


What Lies In the Dark

by melodyguardian



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: F/M, Gen, aroace!Mabel, cute as heck family fluff, redeemed bad guys, references to death because I like to get spooky sometimes, so much dipifica
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:21:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 29,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29035356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melodyguardian/pseuds/melodyguardian
Summary: Well, it’s official: After 3 years, Dipper finally has his hands on Journal 3 again. But with frequent dreams featuring a very scared Bill and no Ford to be found, he can’t help but wonder…is it a coincidence the twins are back in Gravity Falls so near the anniversary of Weirdmaggedon?Dipper needs answers, but doing that is hard when Gideon Gleeful is your new roommate and you can't stop thinking about the super pretty blonde that's been hanging around the shack a lot more recently.In a town where friends feel like strangers and creatures lurk within the dark, is there truly anyone you can trust?
Relationships: Pacifica Northwest/Dipper Pines
Comments: 15
Kudos: 62





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> New fic! My first Gravity Falls one, in fact! :D I've recently started rewatching the show and I realised after binging it three times in one week that I wasn't really ready to let it go, so here's my take on a follow up to the series! It features headcanons, a lot of family fluff, a good heaping of Dipifica and of course a bunch of mystery! I hope you enjoy it!

_The boy screamed as he found himself face-to-face with the literal creature of his nightmares. It stared down at him, its’ one eye watching his every movement like he was a bug in a microscope._

_“ **Di…Di…** ” it tried to say, echoed voice now hoarse and slow like it hadn’t been used in a very long time. He supposed it hadn’t, if their plan all those years ago had worked._

_“What are you doing here?!” The boy demanded, balling his hands into fists. He always swore, if he ever saw that god forsaken dorito chip again, he would-_

_The demon floated towards him, the movement shaky. “ **Y-you have t-to…you…** ” It coughed, and the bright gold glow surrounding its’ body began to dim. “ **No……t-time…** ”_

_“No time for what? We defeated you! You-”_

_He yelped as the creature suddenly grabbed him by his shirt. “ **RUN!!!** ”_

_“W-wait, what do you- run from what?!”_

_There was an evil, uncomfortably familiar laugh, and…_

_Everything went black._

“AUUUGHHH!!!” Dipper bolted upright, clutching the front of his shirt. He looked around quickly. Why was he moving? What was going on? WHERE WAS MA-

“Hey!”

He gasped as something grabbed him by his arm.

“Woah, calm down! _Breathe_ , bro bro!”

He blinked a few times to clear his vision. “M-Mabel? What are we…?”

“We’re on the bus, dummy!” She pat his shirt down. “What’s up with you? Do ya really wanna be all sweaty for when we see everyone again?”

He stared at her as he waited for his panicked brain to catch up with reality. “See…everyone…?”

“Dipping Sauce. C’mon.” She poked his cheek playfully, her smile, now braceless, stretched across her entire face. “We’re coming back to Gravity Falls! We’ve been talkin’ about this for _three years!”_

“Oh yeah.” He put a hand on his chest, trying to will his heart to calm down. “Our parents finally let us come back, since Grunkle Stan is back from adventuring and we’re old enough not to die in his custody.”

“Right! Mom and Dad _really_ weren’t happy about Waddles.” She took out her phone so she could look at her photos of him for the hundredth time that day. “I wish he could have come with us.”

“No animals allowed on the bus, remember?” He nudged her playfully. “And besides, Mom and Dad _love_ Waddles now. I think they’d miss him too much.”

“He _is_ extremely lovable.” She giggled. “Are you psyched to see Wendy again?”

His face finally broke out into a smile of his own. “I am! And Soos too! I’m really curious to see what he did with the shack while the Stans were gone.”

“I heard he got a really creepy Stan statue put in, and the cops had to demolish it because it made so many small children cry.” Mabel snickered. “Oh, I’ve missed this place.”

Dipper looked out of the window at the pine trees they were speeding past, and the memory of his terrifying dream started to disappear. He took a deep breath, trying to take in as much of the fresh natural air that he could.

“Me too. I have a good feeling about this vacation.”

\---

Dipper shifted his backpack further up his shoulders. “You ready?”

“I’m gonna hug me a Grunkle!!!” his sister declared, bouncing a little. The paintbrushes she’d stashed behind her ears fell to the floor, but she didn’t notice, too eager to run towards the Mystery Shack.

Dipper followed her, picking up her trail of art supplies as he went, and politely knocked on the door.

It took a moment, but the door finally opened.

“Uh, hello?” The man adjusted the fez on his head and studied the twins, somewhat suspiciously, his thick eyebrows furrowed. He looked exactly as he had the last time the twins saw him, although he seemed to have lost weight and he now sported a bristly grey beard.

“Ya sellin’ cookies or somethin’?” he asked. “I don’t see any. That’s bad business practice, that is.”

“Do I _look_ like a girl scout?” Dipper huffed, crossing his arms.

Mabel snorted. “Wow! You got _old!_ I mean, you were old before, but now you’re oooold!”

He stared at her, and slowly, recognition began to shine in his tired eyes. “ _Mabel?”_

“Yup!” She offered him a finger gun, followed by a wink. “I’m not so tiny anymore, huh?”

He didn’t speak right away, which immediately made Mabel realise something was wrong. Stan loved to talk. Her smile fell a little. She’d changed a lot in the three years she was away. Maybe the closeness she and Stan used to have was-

“Mabel, sweetie!” To Mabel's immense relief, he grinned and pulled her into a tight hug. “You got so BIG!”

She laughed and hugged him back. “I’ve missed you soooooo much, Grunkle Stan!”

“You too, kid. The shack is way too quiet without your special brand of insane.” He continued to hug her for another moment, and then turned to look behind her. “Now, where’s-“ He raised an eyebrow. “Nah. No way.”

“What?” Dipper looked around nervously.

“There’s no way _you’re_ lil’ noodle arms Dipper Pines,” he replied, grinning wider. “No _way_.”

“Oh.” Dipper laughed. “Hey, I’m _for sure_ gonna win you some pancakes at Lazy Susan’s this time! I’ve been working my arms out!” He flexed his muscles and realised, to his embarrassment…that he still didn’t really have any. He cleared his throat. “…and as a plan B, I’ve gotten good at making machines malfunction when I want them to.” He took a screwdriver out of his pocket.

Stan laughed, the sound brimming with pride, and ruffled his hair. “That’s my boy. Work smarter, not harder, eh? You’re learnin’.” He opened the door all the way. “Come on in, kids. Sorry I didn’t throw a welcome party of nothin’. I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow.”

“That’s okay, we’re pretty tired anyway,” Mabel replied, skipping inside. “Dippy got to sleep on the bus, but I was way too excited!”

“I’m not sure if I’d call that sleeping…”

“Well put on some coffee! I got STORIES to tell!”

“Oh, are you gonna tell us about your adventures with Great Uncle Ford?” Dipper asked, his enthusiasm returning immediately.

“You bet!” He headed inside. “I punched a sea monster! In the FACE!”

“Woah!” Dipper grinned, eagerly following him in. “How big was it? Bigger than a pterodactyl?”

“ _Way_ bigger.” He smirked at him. “It turns out, those creepy journals? Just the tip of the iceberg. The outside world is _nuts_.”

Dipper frowned, his backpack suddenly feeling a lot heavier than before. “Oh, um, speaking of the journals, is Great Uncle Ford around? I’d like to talk to him about something.”

“Oh, the nerd’s studying some magic snails or something in a cave somewhere. Said he could do that one without me.” He shrugged. “You’re here all summer. He’ll turn up soon enough.”

“Yeah, I suppose so.” He crossed his arms, a feeling of uneasiness bubbling to the surface. He was trying to focus on being excited about being back, but something was nagging at him, something he couldn’t let go of.

He looked up at Stan and Mabel. She was excitedly telling him about how she’d won that art contest a few months back and had her work show up in a gallery. Stan looked really happy to talk to her again. Did Dipper really want to be the killjoy that ruined this good mood? Over something that was probably nothing? The dream was vague in his mind now, but it was probably just that- a _dream_. They were safe now. They had to be.

“…right, Dipper?”

“Huh?” He jolted. “Sorry, what was that?”

“I was telling Grunkle Stan you learnt how to cook! Y’know, so he can take a load off and not cook for us anymore?”

Dipper tried not to laugh. They hadn’t been looking forward to Grunkle Stan’s cooking.

“Right! You guys hungry? I can probably raid the fridge for something edible.”

Stan shook his head. “No way. Ya literally just got here. Go unpack.”

Mabel gasped and shot Dipper a serious look. Dipper shook his head, smirking. He knew _exactly_ what that look meant.

“Grunkle Stan, how much would you say you’ve missed us?”

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “What’s your angle, kid?”

“No angle!” Mabel smiled innocently. “Why would we have an angle?” She hugged his arm needily. “Have I ever told you I love you~?”

He stared at her flatly. “You want me to fork over money. Not happenin’, missy. Ya can’t con a con artist.”

“Aww, come on, Grunkle Stan,” Dipper complained, pouting for affect. “We saw a flier on the way here. Pizzas are only, like, eight bucks here.” He looked up at him hopefully. “Please?”

Stan rolled his eyes. “Evil twins, the both of ya.”

“Is that a yes?” Mabel asked sweetly.

“If you buy two, it’s 20% off,” Dipper added cheerfully.

Stan grumbled some curse words under his breath and got out his wallet. “Fine, but I ain’t payin' for delivery. You two can pick it up.”

“Can do, boss man!” Mabel saluted. She tried to look serious, but she was grinning too much.

Stan turned towards the male twin and held out ten dollars. “You'll handle it?”

“Yep.” A smile stretched across his face. “I’ve got this.”

“Great!” Mabel bounced on her heels. “I’ll go text Candy and Grenda and tell them we’re here! Oh and Mom and Dad too! We didn’t do that last time and they _freaked.”_

“Great. I’ll go find a movie,” Stan said. “You two too old for Ducktective?”

“Never,” they said in unison.

“That duck is a hero.”

“Unappreciated in his time.”

Stan rolled his eyes. They hadn’t changed one bit.

\---

Dipper whistled cheerfully as he headed through town. He’d missed this place. There was the arcade where he’d released Rumble McSkirmish! And that was the bar he had interrogated Manly Dan at! And that bench was where he-

Wait, he didn’t have any memories associated with that bench.

He stared at the person sat on it and realised, as he walked over, that he might have one pretty soon.

“Hey! Pacifica!” He waved.

The blonde looked up quickly and rubbed her eyes. Her mascara was running pretty badly, but aside from that, she didn’t look that much different to how he remembered her. She was a teenager now and she wore a lot more makeup, but the diamond earrings were a dead giveaway, as was the necklace she wore that literally spelled her name out in rhinestones.

“Who are _you_ supposed to be?” She put her hands on her hips. “What’s with the huge backpack? Training to be a turtle? You look _ridiculous_.”

He rolled his eyes and sat down next to her. “You're as pleasant as ever.” He placed the bag on his lap and unzipped the front pocket, taking out a packet of tissues. “This bad boy has saved my life on _many_ occasions, I'll have you know! I’m prepared for _every_ eventuality.” He gave it an affectionate pat and held the packet out to her.

She stared at it, and then at him. “Who _are_ you? And who do you _think_ you are? I am a _Northwest!_ We don’t receive _handouts_ from-"

“...just take the tissues, Pacifica.” He was starting to regret this. “We’ve met, I’m just not sure you’d remember me. It was only a few times, and it was a while ago.”

She hesitated and finally took the pack. The mascara stains on her cheeks were starting to itch.

“Then why are you bothering me?” she snapped, wiping her face with the tissues. “Can’t you see I’m dealing with something right now?!”

He frowned. “I’m sorry. I figured, since we were kinda friends when we were kids...” He rubbed his neck awkwardly. “Sorry. I’m not real good at the social stuff.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” She huffed, looking away from him. “Are you here for money? Because I don’t have any. Don’t waste your time.”

“What? No! I-" He paused. “Wait, I thought your family was loaded? The whole ‘our family founded the town' thing? Or did you lose your money after the whole Weirdmageddon thing?”

“Oh, we got it back. My parents did a lot of business dealings, but we got it and our mansion back. I’m just...kind of cut off at the moment.” She rubbed her eyes again. “After I disobeyed my parents during the Northwest Fest a few years ago, I’ve been on really thin ice with them. The smart thing to do would have been to go back to doing what they want. But...” She looked up at the sky. “I couldn’t do it. There was this boy. _Dipper Pines_."

The way she's said his name in such a tender and nostalgic way, made Dipper blush a bit. Had she really thought about him since he was gone?

“Maybe you’ve heard of him,” she continued, caught up a little in her memories now. “He came here a few years ago. ”

“Actually, that’s-"

“He helped me see something that I didn’t know was even there- the _real_ me. A version of me that didn’t have to keep appearances or do what my parents said. A version that was genuine and _real_.”

Her expression was so gentle as she spoke, that any thoughts of interrupting abruptly vanished. Pacifica's real smile was...well it was beautiful. He was a little transfixed.

“...Uh...huh...” He shook his head. Focus, Pines. “Pacifica-"

“And after he went home, I made it a promise to myself that I wouldn’t let what he showed me to go to waste.”

“Pacifica-"

“I owe him a lot. He was right! I’m more than just a Northwest! I’m a-"

“PACIFICA!”

“WHAT?!” She glared at him sharply. “Don’t you know cutting people off is RUDE?!”

“Yeah, but...ah, how do I put this?” He chuckled weakly and offered her a little wave. “Hey there. You'll be pleased to know I outgrew the shorts.”

“Shorts? What-“ She stared at him. “Wait…”

“Yep, it’s me. I'm back for the summer! Fingers crossed we don’t get another apocalypse!” He chuckled. He had to laugh about that, really. If he didn’t laugh, he’d be traumatised. “Or another Category 10 ghost! Like, don’t get me wrong, I’m glad the whole thing grew you as a person, but I had wood splinters for like a _month_. Did not like being a wood statue. Nope.”

Pacifica narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Brown eyes, messy brown hair, paranoid enough to carry a massive backpack with him everywhere...it checked out. But he no longer wore a hat, and he was a little taller than her now. It was _weird._

“Are you really...?” She felt her cheeks get hot. “Listen, forget about all the stuff I said, okay? I knew it was you. Obviously. I was just screwing with you.” She scoffed. “As _if_ I’ve thought about you since you’ve been gone. I couldn’t wait to get rid of you!”

“I’ve missed you too, Pacifica.” He shook his head and put his backpack back on. “Anyway, I should get going. Grunkle Stan sent me to get pizza. He’ll wonder what’s taking me so long.”

“Oh.” She slowly stood up. “Um...can I help carry it? The pizza place here usually gives free soda. It’ll be too heavy to carry both on your own, even with that monster backpack.”

“It’s getting dark.” He stood up too, stretching a bit. He was so tired. “Aren’t your parents gonna be worried if you don’t go home soon?”

“Oh, it’s fine. They don’t really care.” She chuckled tiredly.

“What?”

“Nothing! Let’s go! I can show you around a bit on he way!” She took his hand and pulled him in the direction of the pizza place.

Dipper let her pull him along. There was something up with her, and he was going to find out what.

\---

“There was a _what_?”

“A gnome! Trying to steal my food! Talk about _rude!_ I had to smack it with my handbag until it got scared and ran off.”

“Wow, you’re fearless.” He knocked on the door. “C’mon, Stan, get better at answering your door,” he muttered.

“Hey, it’s okay, I think it’s unlocked.” She tapped the door and it slowly creaked open. “Maybe the old guy’s sleeping or something. It _is_ what old people do.”

“Yeah, but not Stan. He was hungry.” He pushed the door open the rest of the way anyway and made his way in. Pacifica followed him with the large bottle of Pitt Cola in her arms. She hadn’t exactly been invited, but what else was she supposed to do?

“STAN! MABEL!” Dipper called. “I got the-“

He abruptly cut himself off.

“What? What's wrong?” Pacifica asked, walking in. “Did something-” She paused, taking in the scene.

They watched as Stan, fast asleep in his usual armchair, cuddled the female twin in his arms as if she were a small child, and not someone that was old enough to drive. Mabel, though, also fast asleep, didn’t appear to mind.

“Oh. Guess we really did take too long, huh?” Pacifica whispered. “What should we do?”

“Ah, they’ll wake up eventually. I’d feel bad waking them. Wanna go eat a couple slices on the roof before they get cold?”

“The…roof?” She blinked. “As in…climb? Dipper, I’m in heels.”

“Nah, it’s fine, there’s a ladder. C’mon.” He took her hand and began towards the gift shop. Pacifica followed, curiosity admittedly getting the best of her.

He suddenly stopped in front of a curtain, pulling it aside to reveal a secret ladder, just like he’d said.

He bowed dramatically. “After you, Miss Northwest.”

“Dork.” She rolled her eyes and climbed up.

To her surprise, it looked pretty comfy up there. There was a sun chair pulled out, complete with its’ own umbrella, and next to it was a portable cooler.

She opened up the cooler and found a couple cups for their cola.

“I didn’t know you could hang out up here.”

“Most people don’t. Company secret,” Dipper joked, climbing up after her. “I hope you like pineapple on pizza by the way. It’s Stan and Mabel’s favourite.”

“It'll do. Normally I wouldn’t even _touch_ it, but I haven’t eaten all day.” She sighed and took a swig of cola. “A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do, I guess.”

She stiffened a little as Dipper sat down next to her. If he noticed, he didn’t show it.

“Really? Busy day or something?” He offered her a slice of pizza, which she took.

“Or something.” She fidgeted with one of her diamond earrings. “I’ve been avoiding Northwest Mansion lately. I don’t like being there.”

“Because of your parents?” he guessed. “Are they really that mad at you?”

She scoffed. “ _That’s_ an understatement. They...” She handed him the second cup of cola and clutched her rhinestone _Pacifica_ necklace in her hand stressfully. “Never mind. Forget it.”

“Hey, you can tell me.” He chugged down some cola. “I won’t tell anyone, I swear. Except for maybe my sister, but she’s-”

She shot him a glare.

He held up his hands defensively. “Right. Not even her. I promise.”

She nervously nibbled at the edges of her pizza, her anger dying down. “I’d _die_ if anyone found out. I'm too ashamed.”

“No-one else'll know. You have my word.” He offered her a lopsided smile. “We’re friends, right?” The curiosity was killing him.

“I…guess.” She tucked a strand of blonde behind her ear. “Look, my parents...aren’t even in Gravity Falls right now.” Her eyes darted around nervously. She wouldn’t normally have the courage to admit this, lest her reputation suffer, but...she trusted Dipper. She couldn’t help it. Three years later, and he was still a really good listener. He had the vibe of someone that had a million secrets locked up tight. He was a far better person than she was.

He tilted his head. “Are they on a business trip?”

“No, well, I...” She rubbed her eyes. She didn’t want to look at him. “I guess I made them mad one too many times. They left on vacation without me. On _purpose_. They’re in Hawaii right now, probably drinking from coconuts and riding _dolphins_!” She hugged her knees to her chest. “They left me with, like, _one_ butler so I wouldn’t starve! And he isn’t even one of the GOOD butlers!”

Dipper shifted awkwardly. This just sounded like Rich People Problems to him, but he wanted to be supportive.

“Uh, look, I-"

“...Pacifica?”

The two of them looked over as someone climbed up the ladder, a fluffy brunette head of hair poking through.

 _Oh thank the journals,_ Dipper thought.

“Moira?!” Pacifica fumbled with her pizza slice, just managing not to drop it as she stood up.

“ _Mabel_ ,” she corrected, climbing all the way up. “But it’s been a while, so I’ll give you a pass.”She walked over, a look of concern on her face. “They really ditched you? That’s, like... _super_ bonkers crazy.”

“That’s one way to put it.” The blonde crossed her arms. “If you tell anyone, I swear...”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, North.” She pulled her into a hug.

“North…?”

“Yeah! Like Northwest! I spent _years_ trying to think of a cute nickname for you! ‘Pacifica’ didn’t really give me a lot to work with.”

She pushed her away. “You can’t just…just call me _whatever_ you want! We’re not friends! You’re…look, just get AWAY from me, you freak!”

Dipper stood up quickly. Who did she think she was? She couldn’t just come here and insult his family like that! He opened his mouth to say something, but his sister beat him to it.

“You’re… _really_ lonely, huh?” she said quietly.

“What? Nuh-uh! No I’m not! How DARE you!”

“Yuh-huh!” She nodded aggressively. “They left you all alone in that big empty house, to go have fun without you, and you’ve got too much _rich girl pride_ to tell anyone you wanna hang out with them!” She puffed her cheeks out in comical annoyance. “Of _course_ you’re lonely, ya dingus!”

Pacifica avoided her eyes, almost guiltily. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Dipper felt a little bad. So _that_ was what this was all about. Mabel was so good with people. It was just like her to figure out what the real problem was.

“There’s nothing wrong with being lonely, I promise.” Mabel continued. “Ya don’t have to lie about it.”

“…Fine,” she finally said. “Whatever. You got me. What do you want, a _prize_? Or to laugh at how pathetic I am, maybe?”

Mabel grinned. “Nah, but I’d like another go at that hug! Dipper says your hugs are great! What did you say again, bro-bro? That she smells like champagne and flowers? How did you even _know_ how champagne smelled like? You were, like, _twelve_!”

Pacifica’s face flushed. “H-he said I…I _what_?!”

“I told you that in _confidence,_ Mabel!” he hissed, feeling his own face turn red. “Can…can we talk about literally _anything_ else? _Please?_ ” He shoved a pizza slice into his mouth grumpily.

“You should probably wake up Stan and tell him the pizza's here before it gets cold," Pacifica suggested. “Mabel and I can carry everything back down.”

“Right, yes, good,” Dipper replied, nodding in sync with each word like a malfunctioning robot. He often felt like one in situations like this. “I'll meet you girls down there.”

“Sure thing, Dippy Fresh!” Mabel offered him a thumbs up.

“I am _not_ that backwards cap wearing, skateboard riding, 80's _nightmare_ piece of...” he grumbled as he made his way back down the ladder.

Mabel snorted. “He hates it when I call him that. Pull out the ol' Dippy Fresh if he ever gets on your nerves.”

“Noted.”

The blonde fell silent for a long moment, frowning at nothing in particular like she were deep in thought.

“Hey, Pacifica?”

Her head snapped up. “Yeah?”

“You’re gonna stay for dinner, right?”

“No.” She clasped her hands around her necklace. “I don’t need your pity. Or your pizza. As soon as I bring all this stuff down, I’m going home.”

“Ooooor...and hear me out here-” Mabel took a step towards her. “-you could stay and have some fun? It’s not pity, I swear, I’d just rather be your friend than your enemy, and Dippy could use someone to hang out with that isn’t me or Soos.”

“I…” She made a stressed noise. “I don’t know. I probably shouldn’t.”

Mabel pouted. “Don’t you like Dipper?”

“Of course I do, but-“

“And you still like _fun_ , right?”

“ _Obviously_ , but-“

“Then what’s the problem?” She tilted her head, confused. “It’s not like you have a curfew.”

“I know, but…” She sighed. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me.” She sat down on the floor, looking up at her patiently.

“It’s just so-“ She paused. “Um…what are you doing? We have to get this stuff inside.”

“Nuh-uh, you clearly wanna talk, or you wouldn’t have sent Dipper away. Talk to me, girlfriend.”

Pacifica crossed her arms. “Fine, as long as you never call me that ever again.”

“Deal.” She grinned.

She sighed, falling onto the chair. “I really don’t understand you, you know? I was, like, really horrible to you when we were kids. I made you feel bad about yourself and I _enjoyed_ it. I had a dart board with _your face_ on it. And you wanna hang out with me and be _friends_?”

“That was a long time ago, Paccy.” She shrugged, her smile falling. “We’ve all done things we regret. I caused a literal _apocalypse_ because I couldn’t let go of the past.”

“Wait, _you_ brought triangle guy here?!”

“He told me he could make summer last forever. I was stupid and selfish, and the town nearly paid the price.” She hugged her knees to her chest. “I still feel horrible about it.”

Pacifica got up and sat beside her. Mabel looked up, surprised.

“I know how you feel. I nearly doomed half the town to an eternity as wooden statues because of my selfishness. It was...pretty bad. I know I was only thirteen, but I figure you have to be a pretty horrible person to doom that many people all at once. Maybe we should just accept that we're bad people already and stop beating ourselves up about it.”

Mabel smiled a little. “You're not a bad person, Pacifica.”

“Yeah? Well, then, neither are _you_.” She poked her in the chest. “We were just dumb kids. Dumb kids with access to the supernatural. It's been three years, cut yourself some slack.”

“Only if you do first,” Mabel shot back, hugging the older girl's arm. “I’m trying to be better and look to the future, and in your own way, I think you are too.”

“Wait, what do you-"

_Drip....drip..._

The girls looked up as rain slowly began to fall. It started out as one drip at a time, and then quickly began gaining pace.

Pacifica shrieked and grabbed the pizza boxes, holding them above her head to protect her hair. “We’re gonna get _soaked_!”

“Not if we’re quick! C'mon North!”

Before the blonde could protest about the nickname, Mabel had already grabbed the bottle of Pep and rushed back down the ladder.

She followed, shivering. She supposed she had no choice but to stay now, at least until the rain stopped. She hadn’t been able to avoid getting a little wet on the way down the ladder, so she knew it wouldn’t be long before she caught a cold.

“Took you kids long enough,” Stan complained as they made it to the lounge. He opened one of the pizza boxes and took out a slice. “M'kay, so bring me up to speed here-“ He looked Pacifica up and down judgementally. “What’s a _Northwest_ doin' here? Ya get lost, or...?”

“I saw Dipper on his way back from the pizza place, so I decided to help him carry everything,” Pacifica lied easily. “But now it’s raining and I’m, like, _not_ going out in that.”

“Eh, fair enough. But don’t cause no trouble.” He shrugged and sat back down in his chair with his slice.

“Wh-I do _not_ cause trouble!”

“Well you _did_ invoke the wrath of a blood thirsty ghost so you wouldn’t’ have to touch the _poor people_ ,” Dipper teased.

“UGH will you let that GO?”

“Never.” He sat down on the floor in front of Stan's chair and pat the spot next to him. “Anyway, come watch Ducktective with us! It just started."

“Ducktective?” she scoffed, though sat down next to him anyway. “Isn't that for little ki-OW!”

Stan smirked. He didn’t get to kick children a lot. “There will be NO Ducktective disrespect in this house!”

“Yeah, he’s a family classic!” Mabel grinned, taking a sip of Pep and sitting on Pacifica’s other side. “The jokes are way funnier when you’re old enough to get them.”

Pacifica rolled her eyes. She’d never actually watched the show, but she didn’t need to to know it was beneath her. Also, hadn’t it ended, like five years ago?

She turned to the TV. W _hen in Rome_ , she supposed.

...

Ugh this show was so dumb. She really couldn’t take this talking duck seriously.

She shivered.

Dipper nudged her. “Hey, are you cold?”

“Well she _is_ wearing a dress, Dip.”

Mabel reached over and stole one of his pizza slices.

“Hey!” He huffed at her and turned back to the other girl. “Pacifica, do you want to borrow one of Mabel’s sweaters?”

“Oh, I’m, like, totally fine. I don’t-"

He wrapped his arm around her in a side hug, rubbing her arm to try to generate heat. “Are you sure? People don’t shiver for no reason.”

She froze. His heartbeat was so close to hers. She could smell the cherry pep in his breath. Their faces were so _close_ …

“Actually, yeah you’re right,” she said quickly. “I’m cold. Like, _really_ cold. K-keep doing what you’re doing. _Brrrr_.”

Mabel snorted.

“What?” Dipper asked, oblivious.

“Nothing. Ignore her.” The blonde leaned against him comfortably and pretended to focus on the TV again.

Dipper leaned back against the chair, starting to get comfortable too. He was happy he was able to help Pacifica a little bit, especially after he’d been so useless helping her with her problems before. She looked happy, so he was glad he’d apparently done something right. He squeezed her arm.

“Thanks for helping out so much. Sorry you’re stuck here for a bit.”

She looked up at him, looking a little sleepy. “It’s okay, it’s not too bad.” She paused. “Well I mean it’s damp and dark and it smells like old man B.O in here, but otherwise it’s fine.”

He rolled his eyes. “At least you’re honest. Did you like the pizza?”

“I’m not really a pizza person,” she confessed. “I’ve never understood the appeal.”

“Oh, I bet Miss Fancy’s favourite food is _caviar stuffed croissants_ or something,” Mabel teased, in the worst French accent Pacifica had ever heard.

“I do like those,” she muttered. “Though if you _must_ know, officially, my favourite food is pheasants stuffed with lobster and ravioli.”

“Officially?” Dipper asked curiously. “What about unofficially?”

She looked between this Pines twins for a moment. Nah, if they told anyone, she could deny it easily. She decided to answer honestly. “Anything and everything deep fried. It’s my one weakness.”

Mabel gasped. “Have you ever tried churros?”

“No, but they look _amazing_. I saw some dipped in chocolate sauce once, but I wasn’t able to eat any. One of my biggest regrets ever.”

“Mabel loves churros. I once saw her shove ten in her mouth _at the same time.”_

“Hey, I just got my braces off! I wanted my teeth to enjoy their freedom!” She pouted. “Darn it, now I really want one. Can you make me one, Dipping Sauce?”

“Sorry, baked goods aren’t my area.”

“The fair is coming back to Gravity Falls in a few days,” Pacifica suggested, smiling a little. Was she seriously having a good time with these people? “The last time I saw a churro was at one of the food stalls. Maybe they’ll be back this year too.”

Mabel gasped, bouncing up and down. “Oh!!! We should TOTALLY go to the fair together!!!”

“Yeah, that sounds-“

Stan coughed loudly.

The teens looked up at him.

“Forget it, kids. It’s peak suckers season, and Soos made me promise to get stock organised and all that before he gets back from his trip with that Melody chick. The store won’t be ready in time if all hands aren’t on deck.” He sighed. “Soos has a _bathtub_ full of paperwork I gotta deal with. I hate my life.”

**Knock knock knock!**

“Oh what NOW?” he scowled, getting up.

“Well that sucks about the fair,” Pacifica said, sitting up. “The rides are far less hazard-y now. There’s a new health inspector for this kind of thing.”

“That must be why Grunkle Stan is in such a bad mood,” Dipper noted. “The Mystery Shack isn’t exactly up to code.”

“I coulda died soooooo many times just working in the gift shop.” Mabel giggled. “Hoo _boy_ , that was a fun summer.”

Pacifica raised an eyebrow. “Has anyone ever told you you’re super weird?”

“It’s the only way to be! Better weird than boring.”

“Can’t argue with that logic.”

\---

“Why, if it isn’t _Stanford Pines!_ ”

“Whaddaya want, Bud?” Stan crossed his arms. He'd correct the guy about his name, but he didn’t really care. “Also why d'ya sound _surprised?_ This is _literally_ my house. Sort of.”

The large man laughed, the sound more drawn out than it needed to be, and stepped aside to reveal a fourteen year old Gideon Gleeful.

“He wants yah to look after me for a while,” the boy said grumpily. “I _told_ him you’ll say no. Ah had no part in this.”

“I'm plannin’ a grand reopenin' of my business, y’see,” he explained. “So ah need to focus all my attention on that, and not...” He chuckled weakly. “...Gideon’s latest scheme. I’m sure you understand.”

Stan rolled his eyes. He _didn’t_ understand. He loved his kids, even when they were driving him crazy during business hours. But he supposed Gideon wasn’t as lovably chaotic as Dipper and Mabel were. Gideon was more like…regular chaotic, with a big dose of evil for good measure.

“How much ya payin' me for this?”

“A hundred dollars a day,” Bud replied. “Please, Stan, no official babysittin’ service will take him.”

He studied the Gleefuls suspiciously. There was something off about this. It was a little _too_ convenient this was happening the same day his great niece and nephew arrived. And why didn’t Gideon look more angry and... _murderous_? Surely a few years couldn’t have _completely_ removed his grudge on this family? Maybe keeping an eye on him would be a good idea.

“Alright, I’ll take in the little gremlin,” he finally said. “But I want today's money up front.”

“Of course.” He handed him a large stack of bills. He’d probably expected this.

He took a moment to count all the bills and, once he was satisfied, opened the door wider.

“A'ight, come on in ya little pest.”

Gideon huffed and stepped inside. His father tried to say goodbye, but he slammed the door in his face.

“Ya really _would_ do anythin’ for money, huh Stanford?” he spat bitterly.

“Actually, it’s just ‘Stan' now. Decided the Ford part's too nerdy for me.”

He walked into the lounge and Gideon had no choice but to follow.

“KIDS! One of yous gettin’ a new roommate!”

“What are you-" Dipper gasped and stood up quickly. “GIDEON?! Why- what do you mean ROOMMATE? _”_

“Before you get mad,” Stan said. “I just want you to know I’m makin’ a lotta money out of this.”

“ _How_ is that supposed to make us not be MAD?!” Dipper persisted glaring daggers at the younger boy.

“Ah come in peace, ah swear,” Gideon said quietly. “This weren’t mah idea.”

“Yeah, you can blame Bud for this one. Are you kids gonna be able to not kill each other for a few weeks? Or at least let me watch?”

“STAN!!!” Dipper glared at him. “How COULD you?”

“HEY.” He stared Dipper down with a strict frown. “That’s _Grunkle_ Stan to you, kid. And I got my reasons. You're just gonna have to trust me.”

Dipper continued to glare, but otherwise said nothing, not even when Stan walked out of the room to avoid the rest of this conversation. He did trust his Grunkle, but he was capable of making mistakes too, and with the sudden reappearance of Journal 3...

Pacifica nudged Mabel. “Hey, didn’t you guys used to date?” she whispered.

“Something like that.” She stood up. “Um, _hey_ Gideon! It’s been a while, huh?”

“M-Mabel!” His eyes widened. “Ah didn’t know you were back! I, uh...” His face flushed. “How ya been? Yah...yah look good! Uh...”

“I'm gonna stop you right there, Gleeful.” Dipper stood in front of his sister. “Do _not_ try anything with Mabel while you’re here. Your little crush on her helped cause the _end of the world_ last time and we don’t need to take any more chances. Also you make her uncomfortable.”

“Ah, don’t be too hard on him, Dip,” Mabel muttered awkwardly, stepping to the side. “Sure, he did bad stuff, but it was years ago. I’m sure Gideon isn’t the same guy he used to be. I mean, his hair is flatter!”

“Yeah and it looks _horrible._ ”

Gideon glared at Pacifica. “And why are _you_ here, Miss Fake Blonde Barbie Doll?”

“FAKE?!” She lunged for him, but Dipper grabbed her arm.

“Hey, hey, Mabel’s got a point. Maybe don’t kill him yet.”

She huffed and crossed her arms.

“To answer your question,” Dipper continued. “She’s here because she’s my _friend_.”

“Ah, that’s right- you helped her with the Northwest ghost?”

“Yeah, plus an incident with a really rude guy that steals people’s faces.”

“And yet somehow, I’ve had _worse_ things happen to me than having my face stolen!” Mabel said cheerfully. “Weird!”

“O-oh my. Mr Whats-his-face?”

Dipper nodded. “Yeah! How did you know?”

“The Author talked ‘bout him a bit in my journal.” He shrugged. “But don’t ya havta summon him?”

The twins looked straight at Pacifica.

She went bright red. “Mistakes were MADE, okay?!”

A big amused smile made its’ way onto Dipper's face, despite how mad he was about the Gideon thing. He couldn’t shake it. She was surprisingly cute when she was angry. It was weird.

“It’s fine, water under the bridge.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Anyway, we’ve got something more important to talk about. Mainly, where’s Boy Wonder gonna sleep? He is _not_ sharing a room with my sister.”

Mabel hummed. “You and Gideon could take our room and I’ll sleep in the crazy carpet room?”

“Great Uncle Ford’s study? But won’t you get lonely?” He frowned. “I thought you didn’t like sleeping by yourself.”

Her shoulders sunk. She forced a smile.

“Oh I’ll be fine! I’ll have Wa-" She paused. “Well okay, I won’t have _Waddles,_ but I brought plenty of plushies!”

“Oh this is _too_ pathetic,” Pacifica suddenly said. “Look, whatever, _I'll_ room with you. The rain probably isn’t gonna stop any time soon anyway.”

Mabel gasped and began bouncing up and down. “OhmygoshohmygoshohmyGOSH!!!”

“What?” She crossed her arms. “We’re just sharing a room. It’s no big.”

The girl grabbed her hands excitedly. “This is gonna be the BEST sleepover _ever!”_

“Wha- _sleepover_? I never agreed to a-“

Mabel disappeared, probably to tell Stan the good news. Pacifica sighed. Just what was she in for?

“That was really cool of you, Pacifica,” Dipper said, a little pride in his voice. “You made her really happy.”

“Yeah, well...I’m feeling extra generous today. I’m in a good mood.”

Dipper smirked. “Pacifica Northwest, are you saying you _like_ us?”

“Shut up, Pines.”

Mabel rushed back into the room, a trail of pencils and paintbrushes in her wake.

“He said you can stay!!!”

“He did?” She raised her eyebrows. “I thought he hated me.”

“You _were_ pretty awful to Mabel,” Dipper mused. “But you’ll win him over. I hated you too before I got to know you better.”

Pacifica made an offended noise.

Oblivious as always, Dipper turned to everyone else and clapped his hands together to get their attention. “Anyway! Mabel, I need your help. I wanna give Gideon some rules he can follow so we don’t kill him by the end of the week, since we _clearly_ don’t get a say in this.”

The small boy huffed and crossed his arms. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Rules are dumb, but he _was_ pretty bad,” she said, considering it.

“How about a ‘must help out at the shack' rule?” Pacifica suggested. “If he helps, you guys might be able to go to the fair after all.”

“Oh, GREAT idea!!” Mabel grinned.

“Y'all are goin' to the fair?” Gideon raised an eyebrow. “Would ya’ll let me come along? I had to miss it last year on account of the earthquake.”

“ _Earthquake_?!” the twins exclaimed in unison.

“Yeah, it was pretty bad,” he explained. “They cancelled the fair that year, and a buncha businesses had to close for a bit.”

“Weird.” Mabel crossed her arms. “You don’t think it had anything to do with...”

“No,” Pacifica confirmed. “It was the normal kind of earthquake.”

Mabel looked relieved, but Dipper wasn’t sure why. What _had_ those two talked about up there?

“But anyway,” Dipper continued, trying to get the conversation back on track. “If you agree to help out at the shack so we can go, then I _suppose_ you can come with us. All in favour?”

The twins and Pacifica raised their hands.

“Then it’s agreed. But no _Tunnel of Love_ for you.”

Gideon rolled his eyes. “Fine. Can ya show me to mah room, now?”

“No, not yet.” He took a notebook out of his backpack and wrote something down. “Any other rules anyone wanna suggest?”

“Can _I_ say something?” He glared at Dipper and then looked specifically at Mabel. “I don’t wan’ this t’be weird, so I’m just gonna go ahead n’ say it: the way ah acted during your last summer here was darn awful and ah don’t blame ya if you hate me. Ah know I deserve it. It’s okay.” He turned to Dipper again, his glare returning. “And _for your information_ , genius- it’s been a _long_ time since I saw y’all. Ah’m not _into her_ anymore! Back OFF!”

“Oh, and we’re REALLY supposed to believe THAT? After what you DID?“

Mabel took a step forward, both to diffuse the situation and because she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Gideon.”

The boys looked up at her.

“Is…is that true?” She studied his face, trying to look for a sign he was lying to them. “You’re really gonna back off?”

He shrugged his small shoulders awkwardly. “Don’ get me wrong, ya still mean a lot to me, but ah know ah messed up with you. The least ah can do after all that is not make ya uncomfortable.” He glanced up at her, self-conscious all of a sudden.

“I don’t buy it,” Pacifica whispered in Dipper’s ear.

“Yeah, me neither,” he replied, studying the younger boy suspiciously.

“I never know what to expect from you, Gideon,” Mabel joked, shoving his arm lightly. “Today- honesty! Tomorrow- who knows?”

He smiled up at her hopefully. “Tomorrow…makeovers?”

She gasped and shoved him harder. “Oh YES! Do you know Candy and Grenda? They’re my best friends! I was gonna meet them tomorrow. You should totally come!”

He gasped softly. “Ya want me to hang out with your friends?”

“Yeah! You’re fun when you’re not summoning demons and trying to kill me!” She paused for a moment, her grin frozen into place as her brain registered just how many misdeeds she was forgiving. She shook her head, dismissing the thought. “We can have makeovers for sure!”

“A’ight, but first you kids have gotta sleep,” Stan said, walking back inside. “It’s gettin’ late and I’m gettin’ a headache.”

“Right. Come on, Gideon, I’ll show you to our room,” Dipper said, grabbing the smaller boy's arm roughly and heading towards the stairs. “We will _not_ be taking detours. I have better things to do than show you around.”

He huffed. “Are ya plannin’ on givin’ me the cold shoulder _all_ summer?”

“Maybe. We’ll see.”

Pacifica watched Dipper go longingly.

“Oh, you _totally_ wanted a kiss goodnight,” Mabel teased.

“D-did NOT!” She put her hands on her cheeks. She hated how easily Mabel’s teasing could make her blush.

“Dipifica will be canon! I’m calling it!” She started pulling her friend down the hall by her arm, like Dipper had to Gideon, but gentler.

“Canon? What…?”

“I’m an _awesome_ matchmaker. Trust me. He’ll be kissing you by the end of the week!”

Pacifica made an inhuman squeak, like she’d suddenly forgotten how to breathe.

“Don’t you DARE!”

Mabel cackled deviously.

\---

“Alright, so, this is your side of the room,” Dipper said, quickly clearing away all of Mabel's things. She hadn’t made much progress unpacking yet, so it was really just a few posters and bags. “Don’t touch anything.”

“I feel so _welcomed_.” He sat down on the end of Dipper’s bed as he waited for him to be done.

“Sorry. Mabel might be able to forgive you, but I can’t. Fighting a guy from inside a giant robot replica of himself can make you hold one hell of a grudge.” He ripped the last poster off the wall with a little more force than necessary.

“Oh you’re just cranky ‘cause you’re...” He noticed Dipper's drooped eyes for the first time, and a thought suddenly occurred to him. “Hey, say...have ya been havin’ nightmares?”

“That’s officially none of your business,” he snapped.

That was a yes, then.

“Pines, listen,” he persisted. “Are they about Bill?”

“Oh how could you _possibly_ know that?” He turned to him. “Don’t tell me you-" He stiffened as a spike of panic shot through him. He stared at the boy for a long moment. “You’ve...been having them too?” he asked carefully.

Gideon nodded. “Ta tell ya th' truth, it’s a might concernin'. And the fact you’ve had ‘em too ain’t by chance, ah reckon.”

“I figured it was just paranoia because I was coming back to Gravity Falls, but if you’ve had them too...”

“In Gravity Falls, nothin' is a coincidence.” He crossed his fat arms. “Ah don’t know what this means, but ah figured _you_ might.”

“Me? Why? Bill and I weren’t exactly friends.” He stepped off the bed.

“But ya had more encounters with him than anyone, and ya beat him twice, three times if ya count the whole Bipper thing. You're kind of an expert.”

“Alright, the bed’s all yours, man.” Dipper walked over to his bed, and Gideon stood up to go over to his own. “Wait, how did you know about Bipper?”

“Oh, th' whole thing freaked Mabel out a ton, so she wrote me letters ‘bout it,” he explained, getting into bed. “I dunno whether she did that ‘cause I have experience with Bill, or ‘cause I was the only person she didn’t care about freaking out, but either way I was flattered.” He chuckled.

“I didn’t know it bothered her _that_ much...” He sat on top of his bed and looked up at the damp wood ceiling. “But in retrospect, yeah, that was pretty scary. I wonder what _else_ she’s kept to herself because she didn’t want me to worry.”

“Mabel is one heck of a selfless gal.” He sighed wistfully. “She just wants everyone to be happy. I’ve never met anyone like her.”

“Oh, dude, you are _so_ still into her.” He rolled his eyes.

“Fine.” He huffed, rolling to the side so his back was to his new roommate. “But ah'm happy bein' her friend too. Ah meant it when I said ah didn’t wanna make her uncomfortable anymore. She deserves better.”

“She does,” Dipper agreed. “It took ya a while, but I’m glad you finally see that. Maybe there’s hope for you yet.”

Gideon made an amused noise and shut his eyes. “Thanks. Ah think.”

\---

It was 3am already and Dipper couldn’t sleep. He couldn't stop thinking about his conversation with Gideon and what it meant. There was only so many times a person could count the planks of wood in a shack ceiling to distract themselves from that kind of thing.

Also, the little creep did a _lot_ of snoring and he was showing no signs of stopping.

Rubbing his eyes, he carefully got out of bed and made his way out the room. He needed some air. Sitting up in Wendy's hangout spot on the roof usually calmed him down. It had been years...did Wendy even still work here? He’d have to ask Stan about that tomorrow. Oh no, was she even still in Gravity Falls? Surely she would have texted him, right? They texted each other memes all the time, surely she would have mentioned something! What if-

Lost in thought, he didn’t see the shadow of a person in front of him until they were smacking into each other.

“HEY! _Watch it_!”

Dipper narrowed his eyes, trying to see through the darkness. Hold on- that voice sounded familiar.

“Pacifica?”

“ _Dipper_?” She stepped into the rays of moonlight coming from the window. “What are you doing up?”

“Couldn’t sleep.” He rubbed his neck awkwardly. “Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“No, I’m fine. It’s my fault for wandering around so early in the morning anyway.” She huffed and dusted herself off.

“Yeah, why _are_ you- wait, did you do your makeup different _just_ for sleeping?”

“Hey, you never know who might be around to take a picture!” She crossed her arms. “And besides, I'm a Northwest. It’s important for us to look good at all times.”

“That can’t be healthy.” He shook his head. “Anyway, I was just about to head to the roof. Wanna come?”

“What is _with_ you and that roof?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Where were _you_ going, then?”

“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “I just needed space. I couldn’t sleep either.”

“Then come on. We can go be sleep-deprived together.”

He started up the ladder before she could refuse. Pacifica followed behind him, internally a little relieved about the invitation. She hadn’t really wanted to be alone.

“What happened with the sleepover?” he asked curiously, helping her up onto the roof. Fortunately, it wasn’t raining anymore.

“We didn’t really have one,” she confessed, taking his offered hand. “I think Mabel, like, didn’t realise how tired she was, ‘cause she passed out right after drinking hot cocoa.”

“Oh, she does that kind of thing a lot, where she runs on like twelve cups of coffee and pure unadulterated enthusiasm, and then crashes.” He sat down. “She didn’t sleep much last night. She was way too excited to come here finally.”

“Can’t imagine why,” she said, sitting next to him. “You live in _California._ You guys have the beach and beautiful people. We have polluted lake water and _Old Man McGucket._ ” She pulled a face. It got a snicker out of Dipper.

“Piedmont does have some great things, but Gravity Falls will always be home to me.” He looked up at the glowing stars above them, a far off look in his eyes. “It’s weird and no-one understands it and to most other people, it’s totally invisible, but...” He sighed. “It’s special. It feels like where I belong.”

She caught herself staring and quickly tried to think of a reply that wouldn’t make her sound like an airhead.

“I think I’d rather be at the beach, but I get where you’re coming from,” she said, looking down at her perfectly manicured nails. “You wouldn’t get zombies or gnomes or whatever anywhere other than Gravity Falls, that’s for sure. There’s something weird about this place.”

Dipper smirked at her. “Okay, _how_ many times have you encountered these gnomes?”

“Too many times,” she groaned. “I think they’re stalking me. But I found out their weakness, so I’m using that to make them back off.”

He stared at her and quickly sat up. “Wait, you found their weakness?! I fought them off with a leafblower once, but you found something _else_ that worked?!”

“Yup! They _hate_ high-pitched noises, like-" She let out a shrill whistle, and the leaves in the trees nearby began to rustle stressfully. “-that. They scatter like scared mice.”

“Oh, good to know!” He took a pen from behind his ear and wrote a note about it on his arm, which was already pretty covered with other notes.

She looked up at the sky, deep in thought.

“This place feels like where you belong, huh?” she thought out loud, her voice so soft that Dipper nearly didn’t hear it.

“Yeah, don’t you have a place like that? Somewhere you feel like you can really be yourself?”

“Not unless you count the mall.” She smiled a little at the joke. “I don’t live that kind of life. I've been putting on an act to please my parents for so long, I’m not even sure I know who ‘myself’ _is._ Somehow, she got lost while I was pretending.”

Dipper hummed in thought. “Well then, think of this as an opportunity,” he suggested. “Your parents aren’t here to police your every move. You’ve got the freedom to do whatever you want and be whoever you want. Go nuts.”

“An opportunity to be who I want?” She took a moment to consider it. “It beats moping around, at least.”

“That’s the spirit!” He grinned and pointed at her. “Pacifica Northwest! What’s something about yourself you’ve never told anyone? Say the first thing that comes into your head. Go!”

“Ahhh...ummm...okay, uh...” She didn’t do well when put on the spot. “Um! Okay! You know that thing Mabel likes to do?” She extended her arms. “Ah, uh, she said the word earlier! A...ha-ugg, I think it’s called? I think the word is German.”

“A hug?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah! Well...” She ran a hand through her hair shyly. “You were the first person I ever...did that with. It was an accident, but I don’t regret it.”

Dipper’s smile fell. If Mabel heard this, he was sure she would have burst into tears. “You weren’t hugged til you were _twelve?”_

“Thirteen, but yeah. The Northwests aren’t, like, the most affectionate people ever unless there’s a camera around.” She shrugged. “But it’s, like, totally fine. Their hugs would probably suck anyway.” Starting to feel a little uncomfortable, she shot him a smirk. “Anyway, never mind that, I smell like _champagne and flowers,_ huh? _”_

“Oh god.” His face turned red. He buried them in his hands. “I was hoping you’d forgotten about that.”

“Never. It’s too embarrassing.” She grinned. “But I’m also, like, kinda flattered too.”

He glanced shyly at her through his fingers. “You don’t think I’m totally weird?”

“No duh, of course you’re _weird_. It runs in your family or something.” She nudged him playfully. “But you were _twelve._ Also I nearly killed you that day. I'd say we’re even.”

“Yeah, sounds about right.” He smiled. Pacifica was pretty cool, actually. He wasn’t sure if it was because she was older now or just because she was away from her parents, but she was already reminding him more of the girl that had opened the gates that day, instead of that stuck up princess he was used to. Talking to her was kinda nice.

“Hey, so, I was wondering,” he suddenly said, his mouth moving on its own. “Do you wanna, maybe...I don’t know...” He rubbed his neck. “I was planning on checking out the woods tomorrow for supernatural creatures. Wanna come?”

She raised an eyebrow. “You promise you won’t let anything steal my face?”

“I promise.” He held his hand up in what he intended to be a ‘scouts honour' kind of gesture, but she high-fived it instead.

That was...really cute.

“I'm in. Let’s find out what my town’s been hiding.”

“Now you’re speaking my language!” He grinned. “I’ve already found out quite a lot myself, but I’ll tell you about it when it’s not 4am. It’s actually really fascinating all the secrets this town holds! When I was a kid, nobody took me seriously, but this time I’ll get proof! Then they’ll _have_ to believe me.”

Pacifica shook her head. In some ways, he had just as much energy as Mabel.

It was...really cute.

“C'mon nerd,” she said, standing up. “Let’s go get some sleep. This girl needs her beauty rest.”

“Aww, what?” He stood up and stretched. “Trust me, you don’t need it. You’re already plenty-” He froze mid-sentence. Why did he say that why did he say that why did he-

“Did...you just call me pretty?” she asked, her voice shriller than normal.

“Well I mean...” He rubbed his neck awkwardly, trying to look anywhere other than her face. “I didn’t... _not..._?”

“Uh…um, come on, it’s cold.” She quickly headed down the ladder.

He sighed. He’d screwed up, he was sure of it. Was she uncomfortable around him now? He was so bad at talking to girls…

As the two made their way through the shack, neither of them said a word, even though they wanted to. They were just way too tired.

So tired, in fact, that they realised too late when they’d finally reached the main hall.

“I guess this is where we part ways,” Dipper eventually said, avoiding her gaze.

“Yeah, I’m the other way.” She yawned. “I should go.”

“Yeah. Uh. Good night, Pacifica.” He hesitated, and then gave her a quick hug. “And, um...about what I said-”

She pressed a kiss to his cheek. “It’s fine, Dippy. G'night.”

He took a step back, alarmed. “Ah, uhm, I, uh, P-Pa...Pa-Pa, ah, uh...?!”

He blinked. She was already gone.

He put his hands on his burning cheeks. What the heck was _that?_ A platonic female friend thing? Or...well, he couldn’t deny that maybe they had a little chemistry. But he was _Dipper Pines_ , the kid with a permanent puberty voice and a sweating problem, she wouldn’t seriously...there was no way she actually...

He laughed weakly.

Maybe he should say good night to her more often.

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wuxvwlqj Dq Rog Iulhqg  
> Zloo Ohdg Wr Brxu Hqg.


	2. Gnome Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mystery Shack is pretty full these days! How does Stan feel about the shack's new additions? What do the gnomes know? Will Mabel ever shut up about Dipifica? These are legitimate questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's baaaack! There was some confusion as to whether or not this was a oneshot, but I can confirm that it is not! I have a bunch of chapters planned, and I've really been enjoying working on it (and getting obsessed with Gravity Falls all over again), so definitely expect more!
> 
> Comments are greatly appreciated!

“Pacifica! Pacifica!”

The blonde jolted awake and quickly sat up. “Wh-I'm up! I’m up! Don’ get the...the bell...” She rubbed her eyes.

“Bell?” Mabel jumped onto the bed and pulled her into a big hug. “No bells here, North!”

“Mabel...?” She blinked drowsily. “Hey I told you not to...call me...that…”

She made a sleepy noise and buried her face in the girl’s warm jumper, her breathing getting shallow again.

“Wow, you’re really out of it, huh?” Mabel tilted her head, and then, slowly, a grin lit up her face. This was a great opportunity. She might never get this chance again.

She carefully stepped out of the older girl's way and headed over to her sweater suitcase. There had to be _something_ in here she’d like. Eventually, she settled on a blue and pink striped one with a crown on the front made of gold sequins. Mabel thought it had Pacifica energy.

Walking back over, she pulled the jumper over Pacifica’s head and started organising the blonde’s hair into an Elsa-style braid.

“What _are_ you doing?” Pacifica mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

“Making you pretty,” she replied cheerfully. “How come you’re so tired today? Couldn’t sleep?”

“Not at first. I ended up running into Dipper super early in the morning and we hung out for a bit.” She yawned. “It was nice.”

“Wait, WHAT?!” She nearly dropped her hairbrush. “Like a _date?”_

“No, although I did kiss him. But it’s not what you-"

“You- you WHAT?! Pacifica!!!” Mabel gasped loudly. “Aaaaaahhh!!! I'LL BE RIGHT BACK!!!”

“What? Where are you-"

Before she could finish that thought, the brunette had already rushed out the room.

Pacifica rolled her eyes. Mabel was going to blow this way out of proportion, wasn’t she? She supposed she’d have to apologise to Dipper later for giving her the wrong idea.

\---

“Gideon, come on, Grunkle Stan is gonna get mad if we don’t get to breakfast,” Dipper said irritably. “We’ve got work today, remember? Don’t be a little jerk. I gotta eat too.”

“Ughhhh let me sleeeeep!” the small boy whined, clinging to his duvet cover for dear life as Dipper tried to yank it away from him.

“Come ON, dude! We’re gonna miss breakfa-"

The boys reflexively froze as something knocked on their door so loudly that it sounded like it was being battered down.

“DIPPER! DIPPERRRR!!!!”

The male twin sighed, a little relieved. No evil one eyed demon here. Just his sister. She was in top form today apparently.

“You okay?” he asked, opening the door. “Why do you look like you just won an award?”

“ _I_ didn’t win anything, but _you_ did!” She tackled him into a hug. “The girl of your dreams!!! She KISSED you!!!” She squealed loudly. “Oh I’m so HAPPY for you, bro bro!!!”

“Wait, who kissed who?” Gideon asked, curiosity immediately getting the better of him.

“It doesn’t matter!” Dipper snapped, his face bright red suddenly. “It was just a good night kiss, and she was half asleep probably! I was too! It didn’t mean anything.”

“Oh? Then why did she _tell me_ about it?” She smirked. “You heartbreaker, you. You wasted _no_ time finding a summer girlfriend! Good for you!”

“She’s NOT my-" He took a deep breath, mentally counting to ten. “Dear sister, it’s 7am on a Monday. Let a guy _eat_ before you accuse him of romantic espionage or whatever.”

“Ah second that,” Gideon said, finally getting up. “But then I wanna know _everythin'._ ”

“Ditto.” Mabel grinned at him. “Dipper’s love life is practically non-existent, so-"

“Going now.”

He grumpily marched out of the room to avoid further embarrassment.

Mabel giggled, running after him. “YA CAN’T RUN FROM YOUR FEELINGS, DIPPY DIP!!!”

\---

Pacifica walked into the kitchen and looked around. “Am I the first one here?”

“Obviously,” Stan grumbled, leafing through a newspaper. “Can’t believe a Northwest stayed the night and I didn’t even make her pay rent. Shouldn’t you be gone by now?”

“Oh, well, the weather’s still pretty bad.” She sat down on one of the empty chairs.

Stan looked up at her, eyebrow raised. “Kid, the sun could not be more _shinin’_. What’s your angle? Last I checked, you wouldn’t be caught _dead_ in this place. You’re hiding something.”

“A-Am not!” She glared at him. “So _what_ if I chose to stay here? It’s a free country! And my family _own_ this town! I can do what I want!”

“Not in _my_ shack you can’t!” He smacked the newspaper down on the table, which freaked Pacifica out enough to make her straighten up in her seat. “Ya might be able to get your way everywhere else, but not here. I am _not_ a patient guy. I have enough to deal with today without you causing my kids trouble.”

“I…” Her glare wavered. She got out her phone and started typing nothing in particular into Google, just so she’d look busy.

“Aww, man, no food?” Gideon complained as he and the twins walked in. “What kinda breakfast _is_ this?”

“Oh, that’s on me,” Dipper confessed, shaking Mabel off his arm. “I promised to make breakfast today. Just gimme a sec, everyone.” He headed over to the fridge to see what ingredients Stan had.

“I can and _will_ kick you out if ya try anything funny,” Stan continued, picking up his newspaper again. “That goes for you too, Gideon. Do _not_ try me today.”

“Jeez, who spat on _his_ pancakes?” the former child psychic mumbled, taking the furthest seat from Stan that he could.

Dipper snapped his fingers suddenly. “Pancakes!”

“Oh, he just hates you two on account of you both nearly killing us and making us really miserable that one summer,” Mabel explained cheerfully, taking the seat next to Pacifica.

“I did say sorry about that,” Pacifica and Gideon both said in unison.

They stared at each other.

Pacifica pulled a face. “Oh I do _not_ have something in common with the _convict_.”

“HEY! Ah was let off with good behaviour! Ah turned mah life around! What have _you_ done?”

“Avoided getting _arrested,_ obviously!”

They glared at each other.

“Now, friends…” Mabel began calmly. “We _could_ fight about stuff we did a super long time ago, orrrr…”

“Or?” Pacifica narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

“…we could talk about _Dipifica,_ a.k.a, my newest reason for living.”

“Oh mah gawd, yeah.” Gideon snickered. “Ya really _kissed_ the guy?”

“It seriously didn’t mean anything!” She made a frustrated noise and put her hands on her cheeks. “It was a kiss on the cheek, and it happened because we were saying good night. This isn’t the shipping fanfic you two seem to think it is.”

“Oh, sure, it _starts_ with a kiss…”

Gideon looked between Pacifica and Dipper, both of whom were attempting to look anywhere other than each other, and chuckled. This was just _too_ good.

“Oh yeah, ah can see it. They’re soulmates.”

“Right?!” Mabel grinned and hugged Pacifica’s arm.

“Ugh…” the blonde massaged her forehead. “Dipper, does your sister come with a mute button? It’s too early for this.”

“Regrettably no.” Dipper began mixing some ingredients in a bowl. “But yeah, she’s got a point, Mabel. You have to stop. You’re clearly making her uncomfortable. Remember, she’s not Gideon. We actually _want_ her here.” He shot Stan a dirty look and poured the mixture into a frying pan.

“WHAT was that, boy?!” the small boy exclaimed, so offended that his tone somehow got higher-pitched than normal.

“Look, we’re sharing rooms, but that doesn’t mean I have to pretend to like you." He yawned and gave the batter in the frying pan a flip. “You kept me up _all_ night with your snoring, dude.”

“Ah can’t control that! Ah was _asleep!”_

“Maybe, but you also owe me thousands of dollars of therapy for stuff you _did_ do on purpose.”

He made a frustrated growl. “Just _how many_ times do I gotta _apologise_ ‘bout all that?”

“Keep trying and I’ll let you know,” he sneered.

Mabel smirked. “I’ve got an idea! You two should just kiss! It worked for Pacifica!”

“MABEL!” Pacifica and Dipper yelled in unison.

The jumper-wearing troublemaker cackled. Everyone looked so disgusted.

Dipper shook his head and came over with plates for everyone. “You make it so hard to be related to you sometimes.”

“Aww, ya know you love me really!”

He gave her a flat look and dropped a pancake on her plate. He’d used chocolate sauce to spell out the words, _‘Dipifica is Dead'._

She gasped dramatically, though judging by her grin, she did see the humour in it. “They’re _sadness pancakes!”_

Pacifica looked over, curiously. “ _Sadness_ pancakes? What are-" She made a choked-up noise and quickly covered her mouth. “O-oh wow. That’s...wow.” She looked up at Dipper and grinned. He grinned back.

“You like ‘em?”

“Oh, Dipper, they’re _perfect.”_

They both raised their fists and started punching the air, chanting, “Death to Dipifica! Death to Dipifica!”

Stan shook his head. He didn’t know what a ‘Dipifica' was, and at this point, he was too afraid to ask.

Dipper chuckled as he poured the rest of the pancakes on everyone else’s plates. For Pacifica, he’d squeezed the chocolate sauce into a smiley face, for Gideon, he’d given him two of the smallest pancakes stacked on top of each other, and Stan...well he got a pancake like Pacifica’s but with a chocolate sauce drawing of a fez with an angry face on it.

“Don’t be a child, Dipper.” Stan rolled his eyes and unceremoniously shoved the sweet treat into his mouth. It looked like he’d barely looked at it.

Dipper huffed and sat back down with his own pancake.

“Anyway, you guys like them? I got the idea from Gideon.”

“Gwath ath couth helth!” the small boy tried to say as he stuffed his face.

Pacifica made a disgusted face and cut the pancake in half with a knife, like a true lady of high society.

“That has to be the most extra way I’ve ever seen anybody eat a pancake,” Mabel commented, sticking a fork in hers.

“It’s called having _class,_ hon,” she mocked. “Not that _you’d_ understand something like- _"_ She cursed. “Ah, no, I didn’t mean that. Old habits are hard to break. I’ll work on that. I'm sorry.” She linked her arm through Mabel's. “We’re friends. Sort of.”

“Totally!” She hugged her happily. “We’re buddies! Pals! Amigos!”

“Right.” She smiled a little.

Stan suddenly cleared his throat and stood up.

“Okay kids, enough mushy stuff. We’ve got a giftshop to run. Dipper, you’re on stock duty, put that nerd brain to good use. Mabel, you stay here and keep an eye on the little punk.”

“Oh, actually, ah wanted t' help out like everyone else,” the ‘little punk’ in question replied, licking the chocolate from his lips. “We made a deal.”

Stan tilted his head, like he couldn't believe what he was hearing, but he didn’t have too much time to dwell on it.

“Well alright,” he finally said. “You can organise displays. Mabel, you’re on till duty. Let’s GO, people!” He clapped his hands.

“H-hey, wait!” Pacifica suddenly blurted out. “I...I wanna help too!”

“...Really? But there’s nothing else for you to...” He suddenly smirked. “Oh I have the _perfect_ job for you.”

\---

Putting on an itchy bikini top, a sticky sap covered fish tail and a unicorn horn headband made out of pinecones, all so strangers could see _a genuine mermicorn_ was _not_ Pacifica’s idea of ‘the perfect job'.

“You’re doing great, girl!” Mabel yelled in support, offering a thumbs up.

Pacifica crossed her arms. She was on the other side of the room from Mabel, but even she could tell her praise was as fake as that fish tail.

“People used to fear me. I used to have a reputation.”

Gideon leaned against a table, smirking smugly at her. “My, how the tables have turned.”

“Oh what do _you_ want?” she snapped.

“Well _that’s_ not very mermaid-unicorn of you.”

“I hate you.”

“Bold of ya to assume I care. Oh! Ya better smile! More lovely customers!”

“ _I will wring your chubby little neck,_ ” she growled through her teeth.

“Pacifica!” Stan barked. “Less whining, more smiling!”

Gideon cackled and walked over to where Mabel was.

“Slow day,” he commented as he made himself look busy by the shelves.

“Oh, it’s always kinda slow in the mornings.” She leaned a fist on her cheek and absent-mindedly doodled stars and smiley faces up her arm in pink sharpie. “This giftshop isn’t as fun now we’re older and Stan can make us do actual work.” She huffed. “I just wanna _draw_ but all my art supplies are in my stupid suitcase.”

On a hunch, Gideon looked along the shelf he’d been busy with, and spotted a notebook with a question mark on the cover. He flipped through it.

“Hey, this has no lines or nothin'. Would that be okay?” he asked, handing it to her.

Her eyes lit up. “Oh that’s _perfect!_ I could _totally-"_ Her smile fell. “Oh, I can’t. It’s store stock or whatever.”

He frowned, thinking for a moment, and then pulled a dollar out of his suit jacket.

“Not anymore.”

She stared at the money, then at the notebook, and something began to click in her mind.

“Wait...” She narrowed her eyes a little. “Gideon. _No._ We talked about this.”

“Ah know, ah know.” He held his hands up in surrender. “Just tryna be a good friend, ah promise. Friends are supposed ta help each other, right? I’ve watched, like, a _gazillion_ movies about it. Most of them musical.”

“Well...okay. If that's really your reason.”

“It is, cross mah heart.”

“Then...thanks so much!” She processed the order into the til and finally let herself smile. “So, you like musicals?”

“Mabel. Darlin'.” He smirked. “We _literally_ met through song.”

“Oh! We DID! I forgot!” She laughed. “How did that go again? _I can see...what others can’t see_?”

“Yup! _It ain’t no sideshow trick, it’s inatability!_ ” He pointed a finger gun at her.

“ _Where ooooothers are blind, I am futurely inclined-_ " She suddenly burst into a fit of giggles.

“What?” he asked, grinning.

“S-s...” She clutched her chest. “ _So many_ made up words...” she rasped, barely holding herself together. “What the heckin' heck is _futurely?_ ”

“Honestly, ah have no idea. I was failin' english when ah came up with those lyrics.”

He laughed. He’d be mad at the mockery, but he hadn’t heard her laugh like that in a long time.

“Ta tell ya the truth,” he said, attempting to change the subject a bit from his past failings. “I’m actually kinda... _really_ into musicals.” He looked down shyly. “I was in my school’s production of Hamilton a while back. It was...really really fun.”

“You played _Hamilton?!”_ She gave him a shove. “No WAY!”

“King George, actually, but...yeah. Ah think I finally found somethin’ ah'm good at that isn’t...destructive.”

She smiled brightly. “Oh I’m so HAPPY for you! That’s _awesome_!!!”

“Yeah. Ah suppose it is.” He found himself smiling. Whether she was twelve or sixteen, Mabel had a habit of radiating this contagious aura of enthusiasm and sunshine. You just couldn’t help feeling good when you were around her.

She picked up her sharpie again and started to draw in her new notebook. “I love musicals too! I like to listen to the soundtracks while I draw! It beats listening to Dippy Dip talk to himself. The weirdo.” She chuckled.

Gideon peered at her notebook curiously. “Is that...?”

“Yep. It's Pacifica.” She grinned. “She's been kinda down lately, so I thought it could cheer her up! This is just the first sketch. I’ll work on a better version later. It’s gonna have _sparkles!”_

He tilted his head. “Ah meant ta ask- how did ya'll become friends? Ah always thought she hated ya.”

“Oh, she did, and I hated her back!” She giggled. “But it’s been years, and...I don’t know, there’s something different about her now. She’s more genuine and junk. Like, _actually_ nice to me instead of fake nice to me.” She tapped her pen against her cheek. “I wonder if I can convince her to stay the night again. I wanna paint her nails.”

“It’s nice ya get along so much. I’ve been tryin' to get Dipper to at least _tolerate_ me, but...” He sighed. “I've attacked him, shrunk him, tried to kill him, hurt _you...”_ He shook his head. “Ah don’t expect him to forgive me for all that, but if we’re gonna be sharing _rooms...”_

“You need something in common you can talk about!” She pointed her index finger at him. “You like musicals! What else?”

“Uh...” He thought for a moment. “Ah don’t know, Mabel, I’m not like the kids in my class, I’m not into sports or nothin'...”

“Oh I’m sure there’s _something!_ He’s a nerd! Do you have any nerdy hobbies in common?”

“Ah don’t reckon ah do.” He frowned. “Though honestly, ah don’t know a lot about him.”

“There you go then!” She grinned.

“There I...what?”

“You gotta get to know each other better! If you- oh, _hi_ valued customer! How are you today?” She quickly processed the order and handed their item back. Once they’d gone, she turned back to her friend. “ _Talk_ to him, Gid. Get to know each other better! Once he realises you have hobbies that aren’t evil, he might warm up to you!”

“ _Might_ bein' the keyword there.” He crossed his chubby arms. “But okay. I’ll try.”

“Yay! Good luck!” She offered him a thumbs up and then turned to the customer that had just arrived.

Gideon sjghed. He would try that. But...maybe later. He was worried bothering the male Pines twin while he was working would just get him more insults.

\---

Dipper was bored. _So_ bored.

It felt like time was literally standing still.

He stared longingly out of the window at the forest. Oh how he wished he could just go out there and investigate already.

He looked around the room at how everyone else was doing. Mabel was gossiping with a customer, Gideon was sweeping the floor, looking serious about something, and Pacifica...

He felt a twinge of sympathy. She was shivering, clearly freezing in that bikini top. He remembered how awful it had been to pretend to be a wolf boy or whatever for Stan his first summer here. He couldn't imagine how much this sucked for Pacifica, who was doing this _by choice._

Decision made, he walked over to her and waved. “Hey, if it isn’t...uh...” He tried to come up with a compliment she’d like. “... _Pretty Pacifica_! You look, um, _really great_ in that fish tail!”

“Why thank you, _Darling Dipper_ ,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “But you don’t have to lie to make me feel better. You’re worse at it than Mabel.”

“I-I'm not, I-" He felt his face burn hotter than that time he got his head caught in the pizza oven.

 _Darling_ Dipper _._

She could have used _any_ word beginning with D. Dorky, Distracted, Disastrous...

...but she chose _Darling,_ the thing couples called each other in those old timey movies he hated so much.

“D-D-Da, uh, D-Dar...”

He mentally kicked himself. His voice and brain were betraying him. She was going to think he was so pathetic, falling over his words just because a pretty girl said something nice to him. He’d gotten way more confident over the years, so where did all _that_ go in his time of need?

“Uh...Dipper?” She raised an eyebrow. “Did I, like, _break_ you or something?” You’re looking a little...” She suddenly grinned. “Oh, wait, is this because I called you ‘darling'?”

“N-no! I-"

Quick, Dipper! Battle stations! Change the subject! Say something! ANYTHING!

“I love your smile!” he blurted out. “Sometimes it makes me look at you for way longer than normal but I can’t help it!”

...anything but _that._

“You...you really...?” She gasped and put a hand over her mouth. “Dipper, do you...?”

Blushing madly, he pulled off his hoodie and held it out to her. “Here! For you! You look cold! I’ll tell Stan you got an allergic reaction to all the sap.”

“Oh, um, thank you.” She smiled shyly and pulled it over her head.

Suddenly, there was the very loud sound of someone clapping their hands together.

“Alright, kids!” Stan announced. “That'll do for today. Go do whatever teenagers do. I need a nap.”

Without another word, he turned and left.

Dipper looked at Pacifica again, internally grateful for the distraction.

“Are you still on for adventuring?”

“Absolutely. Let me just-“

“Northy!” Mabel yelled, rushing over.

“Hey, Mabes.” She crossed her arms. “I told you not to call me that, remember?”

She grinned. “Pacifica Northwest did you just give _me_ a nickname? _”_

“Yes, sure, whatever.” She waved her hand dismissively. “What do you want?”

“Oh, I was just gonna help you out of the fish tail and get all that sticky stuff off you.” She shrugged.

“Oh.” She smiled at her gratefully. “That would be great, actually. I feel like I’m gonna feel sticky for the _rest of my life_.”

“Lemme just go grab some baby wipes! Dipperino, you comin'?”

“Oh, um, sure.” He followed as his sister walked out of the giftshop.

Once they were finally alone, Mabel turned to him, grinning.

“Okay, spill- why does your face look so red? And why is Pacifica wearing your _Ghostharassers_ hoodie?”

He made a strangled noise, like an animal caught in front of a speeding car.

“Nothing! No reason! Who’s Pacifica?!”

Mabel frowned at him and crossed her arms.

“Alright, so, _maybe_ she called me ‘darling' as a joke and _maybe_ it made me a blushing mess and _maybe_ I told her that I stare at her for way too long when she smiles...” He sighed and put his hands on his cheeks. “Is this what it feels like to be you with your crushes of the week?”

She squealed loudly, opting not to focus on that last part for now. It was a difficult subject.

“DIPPER!!! You LOVE her!!!”

“I-I...I only met her again _yesterday!_ I can’t be in...in...” He shook his head. “I'm sure I’m just tired. Your Dipifica stuff is just getting to me, that’s all.”

She smirked. “You gave her your favourite hoodie.”

“She was _cold!”_

“She was cold last night too when you cuddled her so she’d be warm. You two cuddled a _while...”_

“Shut UP, Mabel! You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

His face burning more now than ever, he stormed out of the room, huffing.

He was in love with Pacifica? How ridiculous. It wasn't like he constantly thought about her soft hair or her gentle smile or how warm her hand felt when they were holding hands...

...oh no.

He shook his head. He didn’t have time for these distractions. Bill could be planning his next attack. He needed to investigate Ford's whereabouts while they were in the forest. That was the only thing that mattered right now. Romance wouldn’t save the world.

\---

“Are you sure you know where we’re going?” Pacifica asked, looking around nervously. They were pretty thick into the forest by now and it was getting harder and harder to see the shack.

“Oh, trust me, I’ve been this way hundreds of times. The crystal cavern isn’t far.”

“Wait, did you say _crystals?”_ Her eyes sparkled. “How big are they?”

“They vary a lot in size, but you have to be careful. They have shrinking properties. They’re- oh, watch your step-" He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the way of some vines that were by their feet. “They’re dangerous in the wrong hands. Back when I first discovered them, _Gideon_ was those wrong hands.”

“You guys really have quite the history,” Pacifica replied. If she was being honest with herself, she loved hearing about Dipper's previous summer here. She wasn’t around for most of it, so it was kind of fascinating to learn about the kind of things that had been right under her nose.

“You could say that. He caused me and Mabel a lot of trouble that summer. I know Mabel blames herself for Weirdmageddon, but I’m sure it was somehow all his fault.”

She tilted her head. “Really? What makes you say that?”

“Just a hunch.” He suddenly stopped and looked around for a moment.

She gripped his hand tighter. “Um, Dipper, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.” He let her hold his hand, but he didn’t really hold hers in return. He seemed too preoccupied with something in between the trees in front of them.

“Do you wanna, maybe…” Her cheeks flushed. “…go get a bite to eat tomorrow? Just the two of us? It’s no _crystal cavern_ , but they make, like, really good pies…”

“Hey, do you hear that noise?” he replied, taking a flashlight out of his bag. “I could have _sworn_ I heard something…”

She frowned. He hadn’t heard her at all, had he?

When Dipper was adventuring, his personality was totally different. He’d always been serious about the town’s mysteries, but while they’d been walking, he’d been far less chatty. Sure, he’d told her about some of his adventures, but he was really vague about a lot of the details, almost like he didn’t trust her with them. The blushing guy from before that made jokes and fell over his words had completely vanished.

She yanked her hand away from his.

“Are you seriously _ignoring_ me?” she snapped. “Why did you even _invite_ me here?”

He turned to look at her for the first time since they left the shack, his brown eyes wide. Pacifica felt a little satisfaction that she was able to catch him so off guard.

“You’re right, I’m sorry, I’m just-“ He stiffened. “-gnomes!”

“You’re just… _gnomes_?” She rolled her eyes. “Okay, now you’re not making any sense.”

“No! GNOMES!” He grabbed her arm and yanked her out of the way of a gnome that had been flying towards her head, pointy hat-first.

“AHHHHH!!!”

She looked towards where they’d come from, trying to decide if they could make a run for it back to the shack, but more were approaching, this time, holding what looked like kitchen utensils as weapons.

At first, Pacifica felt relieved. There wasn’t a lot they could do with spoons. But then she noticed a few with knives and felt the blood drain from her face.

“Pacifica, are these the same gnomes you mentioned might be following you?”

“I-I’m not sure! They all look the same!”

Dipper frowned, trying to think. Could they fight their way out of this? They didn’t have a golf cart or a leaf blower this time, and the addition of knives to this already pretty dangerous equation wasn’t exactly helping matters.

“Alright, we’ll bite,” he said loudly. “What do you little freaks want?”

A gnome with a brown beard stepped out from behind a cluster of his brethren and smiled brightly.

“Princess! We finally found you! Ready to become a queen?”

Pacifica groaned and took a step away from Dipper. “Oh, I remember this one. Jeff, was it?”

“She remembered my name!” He turned to a gnome on his left. “I _told you_ she cares about me, Carson! You owe me an apple pie!”

Carson, a gnome with white hair, grumbled something unintelligible and crossed his arms.

“No, he’s right, I very much do not care about you,” Pacifica replied, her hands on her hips. “The stalking was bad enough, but now you have KNIVES?!”

“It's nothing personal, my love, it’s just we’ve dealt with this human before. He’s dangerous.”

“Am not!” He glared at him. “Listen, we don’t want any trouble. We’re just looking for someone.”

Pacifica stared at him. They _were?_ She didn’t remember that part of the conversation.

Jeez, she felt so stupid. _Of_ _course_ he didn’t just want to hang out with her. She was just there for backup. He never intended this to be a _date_.

“And we’d be glad to help, if our queen wished it,” Jeff replied, taking a step towards Pacifica. “So whaddaya say, honey? An entire army of lovable little guys at your disposal? Schmebulock gives great back rubs!”

Pacifica crossed her arms. “I think I’ll pass.”

The gnomes raised their knives again.

Dipper raised his hands up in surrender.

“Guys, come on. Just tell us if you’ve seen who we’re looking for and we’ll be on our way. None of us want to fight.”

“Not without our queen!” Jeff demanded.

“FINE!” Dipper exclaimed, exasperated. “If you tell me where Ford is, you can have her! Just tell me what you know!”

“Excuse me, they can WHAT?!” Pacifica snapped.

The other gnomes started whispering excitedly.

“It’s a deal!” Jeff grinned. “That name sounds familiar...”

“Oh, you remember my Grunkle Stan, right?”

The whispering resumed. It was driving Pacifica crazy.

“Oh for- old guy, fez hat, kept trying to eat you guys during the apocalypse?” she snapped.

“Ohhh yep, yep.” Jeff and the other gnomes nodded.

“We’re looking for his twin,” Dipper explained. “He looks just like him, but he’s got six fingers on his hands instead of five and he doesn’t shave that much. Did he pass through here recently?”

“Shmebulock!” a grey haired gnome stated proudly.

Jeff snapped his fingers. “Oh that’s right! Shmebulock here saw a guy like that head west towards the tree that sounds like metal. Seemed like he was in a hurry.”

“Oh, he must be in the bunker!” He clapped his hands together. “Thanks, guys! Uh...Pacifica, you’ll be okay here while I go check that out, right? If they try anything funny, you can just do the whistle thing!”

She stared at him. He couldn’t be serious. He couldn’t be. He wouldn’t _seriously_ ditch her?

“Dipper Pines, are you SERIOUSLY trying to-"

“Good luck! I’ll come back for you!”

He quickly bolted, his brain working a mile a minute as he tried to remember how to access the bunker. The gnomes were right, Ford _had_ to be there. He was probably there with all his research! Hopefully he had some answers for him about this foreboding feeling he had.

“I...I can’t believe this.” She fell to her knees, a little in shock. “Did he seriously just...use me as a _bargaining chip_?”

“Yeah, that was pretty cold,” Jeff replied, sitting cross-legged in front of her. “Are you okay?”

She shook her head, tears blurring her vision. Apparently, she’d severely misjudged their relationship. He didn’t care about her at all. Or at least, not like she cared about him.

She felt something touch her legs. The gnomes had huddled up next to her, a silent show of sympathy.

“I’m still not marrying you guys,” she said, rubbing her eyes. “Why do you need someone telling you what to do, anyway? I had that my entire life and it didn’t do me any good.”

“I’ve tried to lead ‘em, but they can’t even get a pie off a windowsill without help,” Jeff explained. “We’ve seen how you order people around and make them do things! You can tell us how to get food! We’re so _sick_ of eating nothing but mushrooms and dirt!”

Pacifica thought for a moment. They really weren’t going to let her leave without marrying them, were they? She needed a plan. She could whistle and scare them off, but they’d only find her again. She needed a more concrete solution to her gnome problem- preferably one that didn’t get her stabbed.

“Well if it’s real food you want,” she said, picking Jeff up so she could look him in the eyes. “I could bring you some. A lot of it.”

Cheers erupted amongst the gnomes.

“ALL HAIL THE QUEEN! ALL HAIL THE QUEEN!”

“Ah ah ah~” She held up a finger to silence them. “But you have to let me go. I have no intention of being married right now, especially to a bunch of gnomes, _regardless_ of what Dipper says.”

“But we need a queen!” Jeff demanded. “We need leadership!”

“Ugh, _fine_.” She rolled her eyes. “I'll take the _title_ of gnome queen, but I won’t _actually_ get married to you, and in return, you let me go and get free food. Deal?”

Jeff studied her warily. “We’ve never done it that way before. We should discuss.”

The gnomes huddled together in a circle, with the exception of Shmebulock, who curled up on Pacifica’s lap like a cat.

“Alright, you’ve got yourself a deal, missy,” Jeff finally said, holding his hand out. “We’ll trust you to keep your word.”

“Thanks, little guys.” She smiled and shook his tiny hand. “Then, gnomes, as your queen, I want you to...uh...” She tilted her head. This was already so weird. “Dipper mentioned there are crystals around here somewhere. Can you find me some? I’ll see them when I come back tomorrow.”

There were noises of agreement as most of the gnomes scurried off to the nearest mine.

“Wait, not you, Jeff.”

The gnome looked up at her, looking a little too excited. “What is it, my queen? Is there something special and important you’d like me to do?”

Pacifica shook her head, a little amused. “First off, don’t call me that. It’s weird. My name is Pacifica.”

“Queen Pacifica.” He bowed.

Pacifica hated how much she liked that.

“You’re my second in command, and as such...” She smiled sheepishly. “Do you know the way out of here?”

“Yeah, follow me.” He grinned, beginning to walk. “Oh hey, if I’m second in command, does that mean you like me after all?”

“What?” This was weird. So very weird.

“I’m not the most popular gnome,” he confessed. “I took charge when the last queen kicked the ol' bucket, but a lot of the guys didn’t take kindly to a regular gnome telling ‘em what to do. It’s been hard.” He kicked a mushroom that was in his way and suddenly grinned again. “But now you’re here! And you’re gonna lead us! It’s a fresh start for us gnomes.”

Her expression softened. She’d known right away that Jeff must have been their leader, but she hadn’t realised it was self-appointed. He must have been so lonely.

“Anyways, here we are, Your Highness!” He gestured to the Mystery Shack in the distance. “What do you want us to do if the human comes back?”

“Oh, tell him I’m back at the shack. I’ll deal with him there.” She huffed.

“Okay!” He smiled brightly. “If you don’t need anything else, I’ll head back to the guys.” He took a wooden whistle out of his pocket. “If you ever need us, just use that and we’ll find you. Also if you find us any food.”

“Oh, thank you.” She took it and carefully placed it in her pocket. “I...actually have something for you too.”

He raised his eyebrows. “You do?”

She took a silver key out of the pocket of her dress. “This is the key to the Northwest Mansion. My parents aren’t there right now, and neither am I.”

She tossed it to him and he quickly caught it in his tiny hands.

“Neat! But...why?”

“They’re rich. Go raid the kitchen.” She winked. “Tell the gnomes it was your idea. You’ve sacrificed a lot for those guys. It’s about time they appreciated you, I think.”

“Queen Pacifica...” He stared at her, a little misty eyed. “You _do_ like me!”

“A little bit.” She pat the top of his hat. “Now go before I change my mind.”

He nodded quickly, grinning wide, and scampered off.

Pacifica shook her head. Her parents were going to kill her for that.

\---

“I can’t believe the _nerve_ of that guy!”

Stan looked up as Pacifica stormed into the lounge, disturbing the relative silence of the shack. Her clothes were decorated with dirt, her hair was full of twigs and leaves, and she looked about ready to kill a man with her bare hands.

Stan was intrigued.

“Alright, you have my attention,” he said, turning down the TV. “What the heck happened to you?”

“Dipper!” she snapped. “ _Dipper_ happened to me! That no good, _selfish_ piece of-“ She squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to take a deep breath. “Dipper Pines is dead to me.”

“Why, what'd he do?” He opened a can of cola. “Is it the same reason ya look like you picked a fight with a tree and _lost_?”

“We encountered some gnomes, who attacked us.” She crossed her arms. “Dipper got away by _handing me over to them_.”

Stan stopped, mid-sip. “Wait, he...what _?”_

She balled her hands into fists. “He told them they could HAVE ME and then LEFT ME with them! Can you BELIEVE that?!” She made an angry noise and stomped her foot. “They had KNIVES! They could have, like, _killed_ me!”

“Huh. You’re annoying, but leaving you to die is a bit much. How’d you get away?”

“I didn’t know the way back by myself and they had me surrounded,” she explained with a huff. “So I made a deal with them: my safety in exchange for food.” She crossed her arms. “I know I should have tried to fight them, I know you probably think talking my way out of trouble is pathetic, but-"

“I don’t think it’s pathetic at all,” he replied honestly.

She blinked. “You don’t?”

He shook his head. “Ya looked at the situation, ya knew fighting would just get ya killed, so you used your head to find another way out.” He held a spare can of cola out to her. “Nothin' pathetic about that.”

She stared at his outstretched hand for a moment and felt something well up inside her- something warm and...unfamiliar.

He didn’t like her enough for fake compliments, so that meant...he _really_ thought she was _smart_. Nobody had _ever_ said anything like that to her before, especially not an adult. She’d been called pretty plenty of times, mostly from people that wanted her money, but she was a Northwest. Sure, she could figure out the solutions to problems and decode secret codes and beat the national speed-reading record, but none of that usually mattered.

“Goodness knows I shouldn’t be givin' a _Northwest_ free stuff,” Stan continued, oblivious to her thought process. “But...what the heck. You dressed like a mermicorn all day for free and got kidnapped by gnomes. You’ve earned it, kid.”

She hesitated, and then took the can from him. “...thank you, Mr Pines.”

“Don’t mention it. Like, _literally_ don’t. I don’t want Gideon to think he’s allowed anywhere near my soda. The little gremlin'll drink it all up before anyone can say _Carla_ ‘ _hot pants’ McCorkle._ ” He shook his head.

“Oh, trust me, I wouldn’t talk to Gideon even if I was held at gunpoint.” She sat down on the floor in front of Stan's armchair and popped open the can.

Stan chuckled. “Good girl. Maybe there’s hope for you yet.” He took another sip of his own drink. “By the way, I’m not gonna, like, get sued by your parents for lettin’ you stay here last night, am I? This ain’t exactly a five star joint.”

“No, you’re fine. They, um…” She avoided his eyes. “They don’t even know I’m here.”

Stan raised an eyebrow. “What, you ran away or somethin’?”

“Or something.” She picked a few leaves from her hair. “My parents and I aren’t exactly…on speaking terms right now. We haven’t been for a while. They went on holiday without me, and I figured I’d rather be here with my friends than alone in a place I’m not welcome at.” She sighed and looked down at the can in her hands. Her heart was starting to ache like it often did when she thought about her parents, and she found her mouth moving on its’ own.

“Mr Pines,” she continued, her voice getting softer. “Do you think there’s...something wrong with me? Am I really so...so... _unlovable?_ I know I’ve done bad things, but I’ve always tried to make my parents proud, and like, s-sure, I’ve disobeyed them and...and I guess I’ve embarrassed them a lot over the years, but...b-but...”

Stan visibly stiffened, but Pacifica didn’t seem to notice. The man couldn’t shake the feeling that this was already sounding uncomfortably familiar. He had a hunch he knew where this was going.

“Th-they...they...” She took a deep breath and shook her head. “I’m a disappointment and a disgrace to the Northwest name. That’s what they said. I was childish and selfish. I was so focussed on doing my own thing, that I dragged their reputation through the mud. I’m no longer worthy of being a Northwest. I’m no longer worthy of...” She tightened her grip on the can. “I messed up, Mr Pines. Like, _really_ messed up. It’s all my fault. Because I had this _pathetic_ need to rebel against them, they did the only thing they _could_ do to preserve their reputations, and...I can’t even blame them for it.”

Stan was silent for a long moment, and eventually, he turned back to the TV, a deep-set frown across his features.

Pacifica hugged the drink can to her chest, starting to feel kind of embarrassed. Had she offended him? Did he think she was pathetic?

“You should,” he suddenly said, his eyes still fixed on the TV.

Pacifica’s head snapped up. “What?”

“Whatever your reason, disownin’ your kid is a real shi-“ He glanced at her, remembered that she was still technically a minor, and amended his sentence. “- _bad_ thing to do. You can’t just _decide_ one day you don’t have a kid. That’s not how family works.”

Pacifica flinched. Nobody had said the ‘d’ word out loud before, but…she supposed that _was_ what had happened. Her parents really didn’t want her anymore. They were sick of dealing with her.

Her shoulders sank. She wasn’t going to cry. She wouldn’t. Even if she had no family and she was covered in mud, she was still Pacifica, and Pacifica didn’t _break_ , no matter how much she may want to.

Suddenly, she heard the TV switch off, which forced her mind back to reality.

“Mr Pines…?”

“Come on,” he said, standing up. “Enough moping. I wanna show you somethin’.”

\---

“What…am I looking at here?”

“It’s a target! For boxing! Made it myself,” Stan said, gesturing to it proudly. “When I was a kid, my old man made me take boxing lessons. I want you to try.”

She stared at the ‘target’, which was literally just a dodgeball hung from a tall beam of wood with rope. She had to give him credit for being creative, but…this was a joke, right?

She looked from the ball to Stan. He looked oddly excited. She didn’t quite have the heart to tell him she wasn’t in the mood.

“I’ve never done boxing before, but I’ll…give it a go?” She took a step back and held out her fists.

“Wait, wait, hold on. Not like _that_ , kid. Like _this_.” He stood in front of her and held his fists up. “Also, keep your feet apart,” he advised. “It gives ya balance, you know. If they punch back, ya won’t go flying.”

She rolled her eyes and carefully positioned her feet correctly. It was a dodgeball on a rope. It _couldn’t_ hit back. “Okay, let’s do this already.”

“Go for it.”

She pulled her arm back and gave it a punch.

The ball barely wobbled.

“Aww, c’mon, put more energy into it!” Stan persisted. “Are ya _really_ gonna let it show ya who’s boss? You’re Pacifica Northwest!”

“I’m PACIFICA NORTHWEST!” With renewed gusto, she punched it again. This time, the ball swung all the way up to the beam it was hanging on. “Yes! I did it!” She clapped excitedly. “I hit the-”

It suddenly swung back around and smacked her square in the face. She tripped and landed hard on the grass below her feet.

Stan laughed. “I warned ya about your stance, princess! Your power don’t mean _squat_ if you let ‘em get a punch in.”

She huffed and got back up, taking a moment to dust herself off. “You knew that would happen, didn’t you?”

“Maybe. Wanna give up?”

“And let the stupid ball beat me? Never.” She stared the target down and fixed her stance once more. She could do this.

“Ready? Three…two…one…FIGHT!”

She twisted her waist around and swung her fist, punching the ball as hard as she could. The force quickly swung it back like it had before, but when it began back towards her, this time, Pacifica was ready. She ducked just in time and then got another punch in, just before the ball completely lost momentum and slowed to a stop on its’ own.

Stan whistled. “ _Nice_ dodge there, kid! You’re a surprisingly fast learner.”

“Thank you. I know. I’m amazing.” She grinned. “Can I try again? I wanna see if I can punch the thing three times in a row without getting hit!”

“Knock yourself out, kiddo.” He grinned. “Tell ya what, how’s about a bet to make this more interesting? How d’ya like your chances?”

She smirked, her interest piqued. “Oh, you’re _on_ , Mr Pines.”

\---

When Mabel and Gideon returned from having makeovers with Candy and Grenda, they were a little stunned at what they found.

For one thing, the kitchen was completely spotless. Stan, who was relaxing on his favourite couch, reeked of bleach, so that solved one part of that mystery.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you do housework in your life,” Dipper commented, a little perplexed, as he walked in. He hadn’t found out anything at the bunker, which meant he’d left Pacifica on her own for no reason. He’d been procrastinating coming back to the shack out of guilt.

“I lost a bet,” he replied. “She was nice about it, though. Made me tea. Did you know it comes in _other flavours_?” He shook his head.

“Who’s ‘she’? The Northwest girl?” Gideon asked confusedly, looking over at the nearby table. Pacifica was sat at it, her phone still in her hand, but she appeared to be asleep. Even more confusingly, she appeared to have a blanket over her.

“Yes. Wake her and I _cut you_ ,” he warned. “She’s been through a lot today. Apparently _someone_ -“ He turned to glare at Dipper. “-left her for dead to a buncha _gnomes_.”

Mabel gasped. “ _Dipper_! You DIDN’T!”

“She knows their weakness! I thought she’d be okay!” he defended. “They had information on something I’m looking into!”

“Ugh, you’re just like my brother.” Stan rolled his eyes. “Your spookems and mystery-doodads are important, but ya can’t keep putting ‘em above the lives of others.”

“Yeah, she could have been really hurt.” Mabel frowned at her brother. “You didn’t know for _sure_ she’d be okay.”

He fell silent. They had a point, he knew they did, but he _needed_ to find Ford. There could be another Weirdmaggedon on their hands. They needed to be ready. It wasn’t like the gnomes would have _actually_ hurt someone they were considering their queen, right?

Stan sat up. “Sorry, Dipper, but I can’t just let ya get away with this. The punishment has gotta fit the crime.”

“You’re gonna feed ‘im to the GNOMES?!” Gideon stared at him.

“What? No!” Stan shook his head. “Dipper, you’re spendin’ all of tomorrow with the little brat. Do _not_ leave his sight.”

“WHAT?!” Dipper stared at him. “You can’t be- it’s YOUR fault he’s here and now you’re saying we have to be _joined at the hip_?!”

“In a way, yes. You two hate each other, so this way, I get to punish _you_ for ditching Pacifica-“ He pointed at Gideon. “-and I get to punish _you_ for existing! It’s perfect!” He smiled brightly.

“Personally, I don’t think that’s enough,” Pacifica suddenly said, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

“Pacifica! I, uh…”

“Save it.” She pinned him with a glare so sharp that it actually kinda hurt him to look at. “Everyone in my life has used me for something. My so-called _friends_ used me for money, my so-called _parents_ used me for status, but _you_ …” She took a deep breath. “You ignored me, used me like a bargaining chip, and once you got what you wanted, discarded me like trash. I can’t believe I _ever_ thought you’d be different.”

Gideon whistled, almost like he was impressed. Everyone collectively shot him a glare.

“Look, I’m sorry, okay?” Dipper ran his hands through his hair stressfully. “I was selfish and I didn’t think about you at all. I should have been a better friend.”

“You’re right. You should have.” She suddenly chuckled, the sound low and sinister. “But I’ll make sure you _never_ pull a stunt like that again. Sleep with one eye open, Pines.”

Dipper felt a chill run down his spine.

“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” Stan said cryptically, turning back to the TV. “Read that on a bumper sticker once.”

“I- _guys_! Are you really gonna let her _threaten_ me?”

“Eh, I’m feeling forgiving tonight.”

“You _do_ kinda deserve it, bro bro,” Mabel reasoned, before rushing off the follow Pacifica out of the room. “Hey! Wait!”

“Let me guess, you want me to go easy on him?” the blonde asked, her expression unreadable, but her voice a little quiet now that they’d left the room.

“Oh heck no. What he did was terrible.” She flapped her hand dismissively. “But, um, I just wanted to say…if you don’t wanna stay here after what happened, then…it’s okay. I understand.”

Pacifica’s expression softened. The girl may get on her nerves and she could be a little too much sometimes, but she was deeply loyal to her friends. She _never_ would have ditched her like her brother had. She didn’t deserve to pay for what he did.

She managed a small smile. “What, and miss the sleepover? No way.”

Mabel squealed and hugged her arm. “Aaaaaahh!! I call first dibs on painting your nails! How do you feel about pink?”

“Oh, I _love_ pink. Can I braid your hair?”

“…oh my god.”

Pacifica laughed. Was she really getting _attached_ to Mabel Pines? And why didn’t that thought bother her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idplob fdq frph iurp dqbzkhuh.


	3. Revenge and Rings and Rumours- Oh My! (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper's really in for it now. It turns out, Pacifica really didn't take that gnome situation lightly. Will she ever trust him again? 
> 
> Not only that, this new mystery is only getting more and more unsolvable the more he tries to solve it, so he may have to place his trust in an unlikely ally. But is that really such a good idea? And what if he doesn't like what he finds?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, this chapter ended up way too long, even for me, so I had to split it into two parts. I hope you guys don't mind! I'm really happy with this chapter, though, and I didn't want to cut anything, so expect chapter 4 (3b) really soon! <3

Dipper yawned, starting to stir from his sleep. What day was it, again? Oh, right- Tuesday. That meant his favourite show would be airing a few episodes on the ‘ _Used To Be About History’_ Channel today. He’d have to tell Grunkle Stan. What time was it? He didn’t recall hearing his alarm go off.

“Hehehehe she’ll be so pleased!”

“Shut it, Jason! He’ll wake up!”

...huh? Dipper groggily opened his eyes. “Who the heck is in my-"

“AAAAAHHH!!! HE WAKES!!!”

“Wha-"

He gasped, eyes wide, as he watched as a large group of gnomes run around his legs in panic. His legs, by the way, were tied to a tree with rope, along with his arms.

That was…certainly a way to wake up.

“What in the HECK is going on here?!”

He struggled against the ropes, but they were too tight. He thought he even spotted a barrel knot. Had the gnomes gotten smarter?

“Mornin', human!” Jeff greeted cheerfully. “Boy, do you _snore_! We thought you were gonna wake the _whole house_ when we dragged you out here!”

“LET ME GO!” He struggled again, but it just gave him rope burn. “Why are you DOING this?! I thought we were cool!”

“I can answer that."

Everyone looked up as a girl with blonde hair, wearing one of Mabel’s more sparkly jumpers, strode confidently towards them.

Dipper glared at her. There it was, that over-confident walk, that smug smirk...it was peak Pacifica Northwest. She was back.

He gulped.

He’d created a monster.

“Pacifica! YOU’RE behind all this?”

“HEY!” A few gnomes climbed up on his arms, baring their sharp teeth. “Show our queen some respect!”

“Queen?!” His anger fell a little. “Oh no, don’t tell me you _actually_...”

“Oh, I’d _love_ to explain what I had to do to get out of the situation _you_ put me in, but...” She sneered. “You kinda _had to be there_.”

The gnomes not threatening Dipper bowed solemnly. “All hail the queen! All hail the queen!”

“Oof, I told you guys you didn’t have to do that...” She chuckled shyly, her villainous persona slipping a little. She gestured to the gnomes currently clinging to Dipper. “Alright, I’m a little worried you guys are _actually_ going to bite him, so you get first dibs on the pancakes I left for you.”

There was a loud round of cheers as that team jumped from Dipper and excitedly scampered away, hungrily salivating all over the grass as they disappeared back into the forest.

“And as for _you-_ “ She leaned into his face, her smug smirk returning. “How does it feel to be utterly _powerless_ and surrounded by _gnomes_? Not that _I'd_ know anything about that.”

He rolled his eyes and tried to ignore the mad pounding of his heart. This was really stupid. And way too far. He knew he’d messed up but- _tying him to a tree?!_

“Alright, I _get it_ , Pacifica. But I already apologised! What more do you _want_ from me?”

“I want you to _mean_ it!” she snapped. Then, with practiced ease, she settled her expression into a cold smile. “You can’t make up for this with _empty apologies,_ Dipper, darling. Too bad. Guess I’m not as dumb as I look, huh?” She suddenly snapped her fingers. “Alright, boys! That’s enough,” she ordered. “We’ve spent too much time on this. Release him and go enjoy the food I left you.”

The leftover gnomes went about untying all the knots. Once they were done, they bowed to her again and fled back into the forest, making excited animal-like noises.

“Pacifica, this is really _-"_

He was interrupted by a sudden small cough low to the ground.

“Ugh. There’s still one here.” Dipper rolled his eyes. “Permission to throw the little guy like a football?”

“HEY! I’m short, not _deaf,”_ the gnome snapped.

“Oh! Jeff!” Pacifica bent down to be at his eye level, and her expression softened into a bit more of a genuine smile. She still appeared tense, though. “Hey! Good job coordinating everyone today!”

“Oh, thanks! Did you like the knots? They were my idea.” He grinned.

“I did! _Great_ touch.” She winked.

“I can kill the human too, if you want!” he suggested eagerly. “He’s kinda the worst.”

“HEY!”

Pacifica laughed. “No, that won’t be necessary. But, here.” She took something wrapped in tissue out of her pocket and held it out for him.

He sniffed it, and his eyes widened. “Is this... _chocolate?”_

“Yeah! It’s a brownie. They were selling them by the beach. I thought you'd like one.”

Jeff stared at the gift for a long moment, and then looked up at her.

“...thank you, Queen Pacifica. Like, _seriously_.” He held the brownie to his chest. “I...I don’t even know what to say. This means a lot.”

“ _You?_ Lost for words? _That’s_ a first,” she teased. She gave the top of his hat an affectionate pat.

He grinned again. “She likes me. Hoo BOY she LIKES me!” He punched a fist in the air.

Pacifica rolled her eyes. “Don’t make it weird. You still held a knife in front of my face yesterday.”

He paused. “...okay, so I’m not your favourite person. Would you settle for favourite _gnome_?”

“Sure. Now get out of here. I’ve got stuff to do today.”

“Alrighty! Later, queenie!” He took a happy bite of the brownie and disappeared into the forest.

“I can’t believe you actually _tamed_ them,” Dipper commented, rubbing his sore wrists.

“They’re pretty smart when they’re following specific orders. I weirdly kinda like ‘em.”

“Oh, well I'm glad it...worked out.” He crossed his arms, his guilt bubbling to the surface again. He was glad the gnomes hadn’t hurt her after all, but…Mabel was right. They could have.

“Hey, so...” he began. “You were right. About yesterday. What I did was bad. Like, _worse_ than bad. It was selfish. I’m really sorry. Really.” He offered her a weak lopsided smile and held up his hand in a scout’s honour gesture. “But rest assured, I will never do that to you again. I promise.”

“…Good.” She smiled a little and, like the other night, completely misunderstood the gesture and high-fived it.

Dipper cracked up. She was so weird. In her own... _Pacifica Northwest_ kind of way.

“And, uh, hey...” He rubbed his neck awkwardly. “Let me make it up to you. Yesterday, you mentioned a place that does really great pie? We should go! Maybe it could be fun or...or something.”

Pacifica’s smile fell, and for a moment, she just stared at him.

He’d abandoned her, made her feel worthless and now he was _asking her out_? How the hell do you _react_ to something like that?

But on the other hand, Dipper was a very oblivious person, so him asking her out was kind of a big deal. A _huge_ deal, actually. It meant he might feel the same way she did towards him, and it meant they could finally hang out somewhere classy, just the two of them. It could be really nice. Amazing even.

She should take this opportunity while it was right in front of her. Wouldn’t that be the smart thing to do? That’s what her parents would have done, take advantage of his guilt to get what they wanted.

Because that’s what this was, right? He was asking her out because he felt guilty?

She looked into his dark brown eyes, trying to find that giddiness, that safe, fuzzy feeling he often inspired in her. Some feeling within her that would insist she go through with this.

But all she felt was resentment.

Ignoring what he’d done to her for the moment...the thing that had really kept her up last night, the thing that had nagged at the back of her mind since the gnome thing…was this anxious feeling that just wouldn’t go away, the feeling that there was something wrong. Something he was purposefully keeping from her. Something that explained why he had acted so weird towards her the day before.

Was he getting involved with something dangerous? Did he just not trust her? Was he only being weird around her specifically, or was he doing it around everyone else too and she just hadn’t noticed?

In all honesty, she really hadn’t known him for very long. Maybe Dipper really was that interchangeable now.

“I don't think so, Dipper,” she finally said.

“Great! We can--" His expression suddenly fell. “Oh.”

She nodded.

“Uh, okay. Okay, that’s cool. Sorry. I’m dumb. Sorry. Forget I said anything.” He laughed weakly and ran a hand through his hair. “That’s fine. Totally fine. Don’t even worry about it.”

It wasn’t fine. He was very much worrying about it.

He knew that a heart couldn’t _physically_ shatter into a million pieces, but, just like everything else in Gravity Falls, anything was possible.

He’d been rejected before, by more girls than he dared to count, but this one...well, it stung. Pretty badly, actually.

But isn’t this what he wanted? He didn’t _want_ to get attached to her, right? Long distance relationships never worked, and besides, he had bigger things to deal with right now. End-of-the-world things. Her rejection was a _good_ thing. It was just what he needed to snap him out of these unnecessary feelings. It was okay that she might not like or trust him anymore. It meant she wouldn’t get involved with all this! It was great!

“Come on, Dipper,” Pacifica suddenly said, turning back to the shack. “Mr Pines wants us to help out in the gift shop again.”

It wasn’t a bad thing he’d made her sad. Pushing her away was the logical thing to do. The important thing was that he saved the world. She’d probably forget him and move on, and after what he did, he couldn’t blame her. And he’d move on too. She couldn’t be _that_ important to him. He could live without her trust and her smiles and her hugs. It was okay if she hated him, if they no longer had that connection he’d felt when they were together. It was okay, as long as the world was-

“Pacifica! Wait!” Before he realised what he was doing, he’d grabbed her hand.

She froze, and slowly turned to look at him. “Dipper...? What are you-"

“Mason!” he blurted out.

She blinked.

“What?”

“My name. My real name. It’s Mason _.”_ He tightened his grip, like he was scared she was going to vanish into thin air if he didn’t.

“I…I don’t-”

Her phone suddenly vibrated.

Secretly grateful for the distraction, she unlocked it.

“It’s Mabel,” she muttered, unlocking her phone. “Mr Pines is wondering where we are. We should go.” She tore her hand away from his and started back to the shack.

Dipper watched her go, his heart sinking deeper into his chest.

“I just wanted to…to…” He sighed, kicking a stone out of his way. “Darn it, Pacifica.”

\---

“I hate this. I hate everything about this.”

“Oh, it’s not so bad,” Gideon replied, handing Dipper another item that needed to be put on a shelf. “Ah thought he’d make me do _way_ worse.”

“No, I mean I’m stuck babysitting _you_ all day _.”_ He huffed and placed a price sticker on the bobblehead. “I have better things to do than watch you, when, for all I know, we could be dealing with another Weirdmaggedon. I’m dealing with _enough_ right now, man.”

“I dunno if we’re gettin’ another _Weirdmaggeddon_ , per say,” Gideon reasoned. “Call it a gut feelin', but ah think things might be a lil’ different this time.”

“How’d you figure that?” He roughly shoved the bobblehead onto a shelf and picked up another one.

“Well, ah mean, the Bill in our dreams…don’t he seem _different_ to you? He’s scared _._ Since when does _Bill Cipher_ get _scared?”_

“...yeah, you’ve got a point.” He frowned and turned the bobblehead over in his hands. “But is that good or bad for us?”

“Good, I think? He was probably scared when he got defeated, right?” He paused. “Come to think of it, how _did_ he get defeated? I’m a lil' fuzzy on the details. I’m not sure anyone even told me.”

Dipper glared at him suspiciously. The smaller boy raised his hands in surrender.

“Simply satisfying mah curiosity. I’m not plannin' on summoning him, ah swear. I’ve just always wanted to know.”

Dipper considered it for a moment.

He caught Mabel in the corner of his eye, offering him a supportive thumbs up, as if to say ‘come on, give him a chance!’

He sighed. Alright. Just this once. He’d made enough people mad today.

“Okay, I know you hate Grunkle Stan, but the guy is a hero,” Dipper began. “Stan let Bill into his mind, and that gave us the chance to use a memory erasing gun to…well, to erase his memory. It was his idea. Bill was destroyed, along with all of Stan’s memories.” He placed the bobblehead onto the shelf. “Grunkle Stan, he... _sacrificed_ himself for us. All of us. He’s my hero.”

Gideon stared at him. “Ya…can’t be serious? Stanford would never-- his memories seem fine?”

“Well, we couldn’t just _leave him_ like that. We spent days showing him photos and telling him stories and stuff, trying to remind him who he was. Eventually, the rest of his memories came back on their own. We’re all really grateful for that. That was a hard few days.”

He fell silent. He’d given Stan a bit of a hard time lately about the whole Gideon thing. Maybe he should cut him some slack. Stan wasn’t stupid. He probably had his reasons for taking Gideon in.

He sighed and ran his hands down his face. “I think I might be the worst. I betrayed Pacifica, I’ve been a jerk to Grunkle Stan...”

“Well, hey, at least you feel _bad_ ,” Gideon offered, his voice a little quiet now. Sad, almost. “It took me way too long to feel bad for my actions, and at that point, it was too late. It’s embarrassing.”

“You regret what you did?” the older boy asked, tilting his head. “That doesn’t sound like you.”

“Ah _grew up,_ Dipper.” He huffed. “Ah'm damn ashamed of the way I acted. I’ve had a lotta time to reflect on all the things I did to y'all. I’ve been tryin’ to turn my life ‘round.”

Dipper raised an eyebrow, a little judgementally. “Oh yeah? Okay, I’ll humour you. What have you been up to?”

He immediately perked up, a little hope building inside of him. ‘This is your chance, Gideon!’ he thought. ‘Prove to him you’re not evil incarnate!’

“Well ah'm in public school now. When ya knew me, I was homeschooled ‘cause...well, school didn’t really agree with me. It turns out, kids my age didn’t really like my fashion sense. Or my way of talkin’. Or...me. But after Weirdmaggedon, I figured, hey, now _everyone_ hates me. School must be way better now by comparison!”

“And was it?”

“Nope. It was worse.” He laughed a little. “But the kids in drama club are nice.” He looked down, starting to feel a bit embarrassed, but his mouth kept moving. Being honest was a slippery slope. “I’m real big into musical theatre now! I’ve always been a lil'...dramatic. So it’s a good outlet for me. Plus, singing is fun, and, sure, everyone always chooses me to play the bad guy, they say I have experience with it, which is fair, but bad guys are fun to watch when they’re fake, and heck, they’re fun to play too, dangit!”

A small smile accidentally made its’ way onto Dipper’s face. “Well, good for you, man. That actually makes a lot of sense.” He took a Stan Pines snow globe from Gideon and put a price sticker on it. “The stage does kind of love you.”

“Ah suppose it does.” He smiled a little. “So, what about you?”

Dipper blinked. “What _about_ me?”

“Like, what’s goin’ on with you and Pacifica?” He leaned a little closer towards him, eager for the gossip.

“Nothing. Anymore.” Dipper’s expression softened sadly as he looked over at her. She was at the til with Mabel, laughing at something.

“Oh,” Gideon replied, a little quieter. He’d recognise that sad longing look anywhere. “So it’s like…that.”

“Yeah.” He sighed loudly and shoved a snow globe next to the bobbleheads. “Can we, like, _not_ talk about this please? I messed up. She hates me. I have no idea what to do. I think I’ve lost her forever. Can we move on, please?”

Gideon scoffed. “Ya ditched her, not _killed a man_ ,” he reasoned in a dry southern drawl. This sarcastic tone was a lot more like the Gideon that Dipper knew. He found the familiarity oddly comforting. “Like, yeah, it’s bad, but it’s not _impossible_ to make up for that. She clearly cares ‘bout ya, or she wouldn’t’ve been so angry last night.”

“I…never really thought about it like that.” His brows knitted into a frown. “But I already apologised! Twice! And it didn’t do any good! If she doesn’t hate me, she _definitely_ doesn’t like me, and I’m not sure what to say to make it better.”

Gideon crossed his arms. “Yeah, that’s a might tricky. Have ya tried just bein’ honest? Like…well, ah think Mabel would call it somethin’ corny like ‘speakin’ from the heart’. Maybe if she understood _why_ ya left her, she’d understa-“

“I can’t tell her about BILL! Are you _KIDDING_?” he snapped. “We don’t know enough yet, we could both be crazy, I don’t want to _freak her out_!” He shook his head quickly.

Gideon considered his words for a moment, and then frowned.

“…it seems like _you’re_ the one that’s ‘freaked out’.”

“Shut up. We’re not talking about this anymore.” Dipper huffed and made himself look busy at the shelves once again so he could avoid the younger boy’s oddly observant gaze.

Gideon sighed, but decided not to persist on the subject matter. He’d just gotten Dipper to be civil with him. He didn’t want to push it.

The two organised the shelf in silence for a while, and they began to develop a system that involved Gideon sticking a price sticker onto an item and handing it to Dipper, who would then place it on the shelf. Rinse and repeat. Not speaking. In total silence.

Gideon _hated_ silence.

“Hey, so, um,” he tried again, trying to make himself sound cheery. Dipper was still stubbornly avoiding eye contact. “What've you been up to? Ah was talkin’ to Mabel yesterday and I realised I, like, don’t know that much about you.”

“There’s not that much to know, really,” Dipper replied. He couldn’t help sounding a little down. His conversation with Pacifica kept playing in his head, and he couldn’t seem to get it to stop. The silence had only made it worse. “I don’t have any special talents or anything,” he confessed. “I can’t even play football right.”

“Really? Ah figured you’d be good at sports.”

“Me? No way. The closest I’ve come to a ball is when I tried out for the football team this year, but I wasn’t even interested in playing. I thought there was a ghost haunting the players' locker room.” He sighed, finally turning to look at him. “When they caught me with my camera, they banned me from the field on the spot. I didn’t even get a chance to play.”

Gideon tilted his head. “Dipper Pines, ya know what your problem is?”

“That I can’t do anything right and I’m going to die alone?”

The younger boy stared at him, a mixture of freaked out and concerned.

“ _Damn_ , lighten up a bit, huh?” He shook his head. “I was gonna say that you’re kinda like Mabel. Ya can get way too carried away with whatever’s goin’ on in your head, that it becomes the only thing you care about. And that’s great when that thing involves helpin’ people, but it can just as easily make ya make the wrong choices.”

“I’m…what?” Dipper frowned at him. “I don’t get _that_ carried away. And besides, you _just_ admitted you don’t know anything about me.”

“Maybe, but ah still know I’m right. I’ve seen it for mahself.” He placed a couple items on the shelf. “Remember that day I shrunk y’all? Never woulda happened if you weren’t caught up in tryna prove somethin’ to your sister."

Dipper opened his mouth to object, but Gideon continued.

“But, also, remember when I kidnapped Mabel in mah giant robot? Ya jumped _directly_ towards it with nothin’ but your _fists_. Mabel was all ya could think about. And ya saved her.” He smirked at him. “Ya may be an idiot, Dipper, but you’re a _well-intentioned_ idiot.”

Dipper stared at him.

He was a little impressed.

“…you _did_ think a lot about that summer, didn’t you?”

He shook his head and went back to shelving in silence. As much as he hated to admit it, Gideon…wasn’t completely wrong about this. He _did_ get carried away a lot. He could plan things until he had a headache, but when he felt really strongly about something…well, it was like Gideon said. He made snap decisions. Some of them bad.

And some of them meant blurting out his real name by accident.

He felt a little like a weight had been lifted. Someone had finally put how he felt into words. He’d wanted to explain so _badly_ to Pacifica that leaving her had been a spur of the moment decision, that it was nothing against her, that he never intended for her to be in danger, that it had felt like a good idea at the time. But even _he_ hadn’t realised why exactly that had felt like a good idea at the time. It obviously wasn’t one, and he’d have felt bad about it, even if she wasn’t mad at him because of it.

Gideon Gleeful…had actually helped him. He’d used his twisted little brain to study his actions and _help_ him. What kind of distorted timeline _was_ this? He half expected Blendin to suddenly show up, like ‘ _hey, sorry about this! You’re not going crazy, you’re just stuck in a time paradox!’_

He waited.

No Blendin in sight.

He turned back to Gideon. The guy was clearly more observant of people than he was, and his intentions appeared to be good. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to open up to him a bit.

“I already regret asking this, but...do you think I’m doing the right thing, not telling anyone about our dreams?” he asked, trying to make himself look busy by stacking some Mystery Shack-branded pins on top of each other. He hadn’t even talked to Mabel about this stuff. It felt weird trusting Gideon with this kind of information.

“Ah'm not sure,” Gideon replied honestly. “I’m no authority on making good choices, but I think you’re right about this. Freakin' everyone out when all this Bill stuff could mean _nothing_...doesn’t sound like a good idea to me.” He paused. “But I also think…you won’t get anywhere lookin’ into all this by yourself.”

Dipper felt himself frown as his old friends, suspicion and paranoia, made their way into his brain once again. “Are you offering to help?”

“Well ah mean...” Gideon fidgeted nervously. “I've been here longer than you. Ah've seen things.”

“ _Seen things_? What the heck does _that_ mean?”

“Um...well, listen.” He looked up at him again, his expression deadly seriously all of a sudden. “Once work lets out, lemme show you somethin’ I found. I think it may help us.”

He studied the small boy's expression. He certainly _seemed_ sincere, but there was a big difference in confiding in someone and _risking your life_ for that someone. Every bone in his body told him this was a bad idea.

But his curiosity was killing him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wkdw'v urxjk, exggb.


	4. Revenge and Rings and Rumours- Oh My! (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper's really in for it now. It turns out, Pacifica really didn't take that gnome situation lightly. Will she ever trust him again?
> 
> Not only that, this new mystery is only getting more and more unsolvable the more he tries to solve it, so he may have to place his trust in an unlikely ally. But is that really such a good idea? And what if he doesn't like what he finds?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From now on, I'm gonna start using ATBASH for the codes at the end of the chapters! I hope you enjoy decoding them! I'm really enjoying writing them ^_^
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this two part chapter! Kudos, and especially comments, are greatly appreciated! I love reading them and they do a lot to motivate me to write more!
> 
> Until next time! <3

“Why are we doing this, Mabel?” Pacifica asked, threading some red wool into a bright pink knitting needle.

“Because you’re clearly sad and you need a fun distraction,” the brunette replied with a grin. “What’s got ya down, gurl?”

Unsure of what exactly to say, Pacifica brushed some hair out of her face and tried to focus on what she was knitting instead. Mabel had already shown her the basics, so she was trying to use what she’d learnt in embroidery classes to make something that looked somewhat presentable. Maybe if this turned out okay, she could give it to-

“Pacificaaaaaa!” Mabel whined, leaning against the other girl’s arm. “Come ooooon! I’ll bug you _all day_ unless you talk to me!”

“…I think you’re, like, _really_ overestimating how much I like you.”

“No I’m not!” Mabel giggled. “You _chose_ to room with me. On purpose. And you still haven’t left. Also, you’ve been wearing the sweaters I chose for, like, the past two days! You totally like me!”

Pacifica rolled her eyes and lightly touched the front of the jumper. “ _For your information_ , I just so happen to _like_ your sweaters. They’re comfortable.” She tried to focus on knitting again. “I’m fine, I promise. I’m just dealing with a lot right now. But I’m not gonna bother you about it and make you sad. I’m pretty sure that’s not what good people are supposed to do.”

Mabel frowned. “But if you’re sad, then _I’m_ sad. At least if we’re sad together, we can cheer each other up!” She sat up and nudged her playfully. “C’mon, Northy. It’s what friends do!”

“Don’t call me that.”

She considered it for a moment. Should she tell Mabel the truth? She probably wouldn’t go away unless she did, and it wasn’t like she didn’t trust her, but some of this involved her brother, and she tended to get way too excited whenever ‘Dipifica’ was involved.

Mabel was staring at her. She had to tell her _something_.

“I…um…” She continued to knit, if only so she had something other than Mabel’s face to look at. “I did a bad thing,” she finally said. “I lied to you.”

“Lied to me? About what?” She gasped loudly. “Is your blonde hair _really_ fake?!”

“What? NO!” She looked up so she could glare at her, and then looked back down at her knitting needles. “I lied about my _parents_.”

She took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut. She could do this. She had to say it out loud, or she’d never accept it.

“They’re not _just_ on holiday. They…they _disowned_ me,” she said, after a moment. “The truth is, I let them down too many times, and they finally decided they were done with me. But it’s not-”

“THEY DID **WHAT?!”**

Completely caught off guard by her friend’s sudden rage and volume, Pacifica screamed and fell onto her back. “M-Mabel…?”

“I’m SORRY,” she yelled, standing up. “I’m sorry, I think I _misheard_! Your parents did WHAT to you?! They did **WHAT**?!”

Pacifica cleared her throat and sat up, honestly a little scared. “U-um, well, ‘disowned’ means-“

“I know what it MEANS, Pacifica!”

She winced. She didn’t think she’d _ever_ heard Mabel so angry. She wasn’t usually the type.

“I-it’s really not a big deal,” she defended weakly. “I mean, I kinda deserved it after how I acted. I shouldn’t’ have been so childish. They did what they had to for their-“

“Like HELL they did!!!” She crouched down and grabbed her firmly by the shoulders. “PACIFICA!”

Pacifica stared at her, wide eyed. “Y-YES!”

“Listen to me! I don’t care what they said. I don’t care what their reason was. _I don’t even care_ if it was their _dying wish_ \- what they did was NOT okay! And it was not your _FAULT!_ ” She stared her down, an uncharacteristically fierce look in her eyes. “That part of you, you know that part of you that’s like _‘oh, this is fine, they did what was best’_?”

Pacifica nodded.

“KILL IT!”

She threw a ball of yarn at her and then pulled her into a tight hug. Very mixed messages.

Pacifica laughed weakly. “I-it’s honestly okay, Mabel,” she promised. “I mean, th-they’re still letting me live with them! And I mean…sure, when I enter a room, they pretend I’m not there, and…a-and _sure_ , my old friends found out and don’t want anything to do with me, and sure, my entire week last week was just kind of a nightmare, b-but…” She laughed a little louder, and tear drops began rolling down her cheeks. “I-is it wrong that I felt kinda… _grateful_ when they left? No…that isn’t r-right, is it? Why would I…sh-should I really…” She swallowed the lump in her throat and finally hugged Mabel back. “I…I n-never meant t-to…”

The dam finally broke.

She buried her sobs in Mabel’s jumper. She was probably soaking it, but she was too emotionally exhausted to hold it in any longer.

“W-why don’t th-they…” She inhaled painfully like she was gasping for air. “They’re my PARENTS! If my own p- _parents_ don’t love me, then…then what hope do I…?”

Her heart hurt. Her chest hurt. Her pride hurt. Admitting all this didn’t help at all. It felt like everything was collapsing around her.

She should have just told her about her fight with Dipper. Mabel was one of the few people she had left, and she was going to push her away because she was too caught up in her dumb self-hatred and insecurities. The Pacifica that was perfect was gone, and in her place was an emotional mess that not even her parents could love. Was it too late to live in the forest with the gnomes?

“Pacifica…” Mabel hugged her tighter. “You’ve said a lotta dumb stuff, but this has gotta be the dumbest. Don’t let this determine your self-worth! There’s nothing wrong with you! Your parents are just butt faces!” She gave her friend’s cheek a playful poke. “If they can’t see how great you are, that’s their problem, not yours! Who even needs ‘em?”

She smiled shakily and sat up, wiping her eyes on the bottom of her jumper. “Th-thanks, Mabes. Can I, um…pay you to pretend that didn’t just happen?”

“Yes you can!” She winked. “But anyway, what are ya gonna do now? I’m sure Grunkle Stan won’t mind if you wanna stay here a bit longer, and I know me and Dippy Fresh don’t mind! We looooove having you around! Let’s be roomies _all summer_!”

And just like that, Pacifica’s smile disappeared. She sighed.

“You and Mason have been, like, super awesome to me lately, but…I’m not sure how long I can-“ She blinked. “…why are you looking at me like that?”

Mabel grabbed her hands tightly, suddenly. “Pacifica! Pacifica!”

“That…is my name, yeah?”

“ _What_ did you just say? Me and WHO?!”

“Mason…? You and Mason.” She frowned, a little concerned. “You know…your brother? Sweats way too much, has a cute little voice crack, smells like pine needles and old paper and _oh no I’ve been talking too long.”_ She shook her head aggressively.

“Oh my god.” Mabel exhaled and looked up at the ceiling. _So much_ to unpack here. “He told you his name. That is HUGE! I think I’m gonna faint.”

“Uh…what?” She tilted her head. “It’s just a name? It’s not like it’s a big deal.”

“No, Pacifica, you don’t understand.” She grinned at her again, much wider this time. “ _No-one_ knows Dipper’s name. Well, except for our parents, but they _gave_ it to him. Oh, and I know too. Because duh. It’s, like, his BIGGEST secret!” She started bouncing excitedly, pencils falling out of her hair and from behind her ears. “If he told you, that is _huge._ It means he really, _really_ trusts you! And you’ve only known each other, like, _three days!”_

“Oh, wow.” She put her hands on her cheeks. “That…that _is_ big. Wow.” A smile made its’ way back onto her face. “Maybe he cares about me after all.”

“DUH!” Mabel giggled and pulled her into another hug. “He _loooooooooves_ you!!!” She held up a hand for a high-five. _“Nice one_ , Northy! You got _game_!”

Pacifica laughed and happily high-fived it. “I wouldn’t call it… _game_. Or say that he ‘loves’ me, but…I’ll admit we did kinda _click._ ” She picked up the wool she’d been knitting. _“_ I feel bad. When he told me his name, I didn’t really say anything. I was just super confused.”

“It’s okay! You can talk to him about it later!” She smirked. “Promise you’ll tell me if there’s kissing involved?”

“UGH, shut UP, Mabel!” She laughed louder and shoved her.

She giggled and snatched the wool from Pacifica’s hand, noticing it for the first time. “Ooh, hey, what ya making? Is this a hat?” She gasped excitedly. “You should totally give this to Dipper!”

“Oh, uh, what?” She ran a hand through her ponytail. “Actually, I was kinda thinking that, uh…” She looked down shyly. “I wanted to give it to Mr Pines.”

She pulled a face. “He’s a bit old for you, Pacifica.”

“What? Why would-oh _eww!”_ She shook her head quickly. “No, not like _that,_ oh my GOD! No!” She held up the hat. It was beanie. “When I told him about my parents, he was so kind to me. I wanted to return the favour. The shack gets kinda cold, so…I kinda tried to make the hat look like his fez? I know. It’s dumb. It doesn’t even have the gold claw symbol thing. I should probably just toss it out. He wouldn’t want it anyw-“

She gasped as Mabel suddenly snatched it from her and ran out of the room.

“HEY! GRUNKLE STAN!!!“

“MABEL!!!” She chased after her. “WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE- _oof!_ ”

She froze and rubbed her nose. That was weird. There wasn’t usually a wall there. Ouch.

“Grunkle Stan!!!” Mabel beamed. “Just the guy we wanted to see!”

Wait, what?

A spike of panic shooting through her, Pacifica took the hat from her and held it tightly in both hands. “M-Mr Pines! Hello! Uh…”

Stan raised an eyebrow. “What _are_ you two doin’? I could hear ya giggling from my office. I’m tryna get all this paperwork done before I’m dead.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Pacifica avoided his eyes. “We didn’t mean to disturb you. Um, Mabel, let’s not, uh…”

“Pacifica made you a THING!” she interrupted cheerfully. “C’mon, TELL him!”

“But Mabel, I don’t- I mean he’s not gonna-“ She huffed and held the hat out towards him. “I made this. For you. I tried to make it look like that dumb hat you always wear. You know, the fez? You don’t have to take it. It’s not even fashionable. You know what, forget it, I’ll just-”

“Oh, just gimme the hat,” he replied, unceremoniously snatching it from her. He turned it over in his hands. “Hey, this is pretty nice. Is it the same stuff Mabel uses to make those sweaters?”

“Yeah, I think so. She has it in, like, so many colours.”

He pulled it over his head and nodded. “I like this. It’s warm and it hides my lack of hair. Thanks, princess.” He placed a hand on top of her head, a subtle show of affection. He turned to Mabel. “Alright, I got more paperwork to do, so keep it down, will ya? Mabel, sweetie, ya gotta work on your volume.”

“Aye aye, Cap’n!” She saluted, grinning.

“I would never let you on my ship.” He shook his head and started back down the hall.

“Bye, Grunkle Stan,” Pacifica whispered as she watched him go, looking a little shaken.

“What was that?” Mabel asked. “Did you say something?”

“N-no.” She cleared her throat. “Not at all. Come on, I know a few slumber party games we can play.”

\---

“Are you sure this is the right way?” Dipper asked, steering the car to the left.

He’d borrowed Stan’s car without permission so they could do this, so he was extra paranoid of getting it damaged or lost somewhere. In his defence, Stan was in a bad mood, and being near Gideon would only have made it worse.

“Yeah. Ah know it’s a might far, but it’s worth it, ah promise.” He gestured for him to keep going straight ahead. “They say this store is haunted, though no-one’s been able to get proof. That’s not why we’re going there, though.”

“Haunted?” Dipper tilted his head. “Wait…” The car started to slow as they approached a familiar convenience store. “ _Dusk 2 Dawn?_ Are you for real?”

“Yeah?”

“I got _trapped_ in there last time I was here! The ghosts _hate_ teenagers. The only way we were able to make it out alive was because I was lying about being a teen.”

“Really?” Gideon frowned. “A’ve been in there a ton’na times.”

“Yeah, but you still look like a ten-year-old,” he teased. “You’re, like, _half_ my size, dude.”

Gideon crossed his arms. “And _you_ gained weight, but ya don’t see _me_ makin’ observations.” He huffed. “Look, it’s fine. We just won’t hang around. We’ll be in and out, ah promise.”

“Fine.” He huffed and got out the car.

Gideon tried to open the door on his side, but it seemed to be stuck. That was…weird. He tried it a few more times. It wouldn’t budge.

He leaned against the door, glaring at Dipper through the window.

“Oops, must have left the child lock on.” Dipper smirked.

Suddenly, the door swung open. Not having enough time to move out of the way, Gideon fell out of the car, and would have fallen on his face if Dipper hadn’t grabbed him in time.

“And for your information, I’m _hug sized_ ,” he told him, unceremoniously letting him fall now that he was closer to the ground. “This better be worth it. I’m missing my favourite ghost hunting show for this.”

“Oh, it will be.” He got up and dusted himself off. “Also, do that again, and ah’ll sell you out to the ghosts. _Don’t_ test me, boy.”

“Ooh, what happened to trying to be a good person?” Dipper asked, following him to the door.

“Listen, ah’m a patient man-“

“Hardly a _man_ , really-“

“-but sometimes your old teenage nemesis is just a _dick.”_

Dipper cracked up. “ _That’s_ the Gideon I know! Welcome back, dude.” He pat his back. “Alright, so, how are we going to get in? I used to be able to crawl in using the air vent on the roof, but I doubt I’d be able to fit through there anymore.”

“Um…the normal way?” He gave the door a push. It didn’t budge. He frowned. “That’s strange. It usually swings open. Do ya think the ghosts can tell I’m with a teen?”

“Maybe.” Dipper took off his backpack, looking through it, his tongue stuck out in thought. “…no, that’d cause an explosion, I shouldn’t- oh, no, that wouldn’t work either, uh…” He suddenly snapped his fingers. “OH! The _President’s key_! I _forgot_ about that bad boy!”

“The…the what?”

“The sixth and a half President gave it to me. Don’t ask.” He pulled it out and slotted it into the lock on the door. It fit perfectly. “Also, fun fact, he made Mabel an official congresswoman. It was a very weird day.”

“Weirdness just kinda follows you Pines around, huh?”

“Yes. Yes it does.” He unlocked the door and stepped to the side. “Lead the way, short stack!”

“Oh, please, _keep_ _goin’_ with the short jokes,” Gideon threatened, his voice dripping with sweetness. “Ah have a journal at mah disposal, and mah memory is _anythin’_ but _short_.”

Dipper blinked. “Wait, wait, wait, hold on, you have a _journal_?!”

He quickly followed him inside.

“Yeah, mah original journal 2. It just… _showed up_ one day. Ah found it in my locker at school.”

“No _way_.” He took a book out of his backpack and held it up. The number on the front was crystal clear. It was Journal 3. “Mine suddenly showed up too. It appeared in my room right before I was supposed to leave for Gravity Falls. And we’ve both been seeing dreams with Bill in them, too? That _can’t_ be a coincidence.”

“Darn tootin’.” Gideon frowned. “So that begs the question…who has journal number 1?”

“Well, I _thought_ my Great Uncle would have it, but...no-one knows where he is. Not even Stan.” He sighed. One of these days, he had to buy Ford a phone or something.

“Why would your _Great Uncle_ have it?” Gideon asked, leading Dipper down the frozen food isle. “Did he know The Author or somethin’?”

“Oh my god, no-one told you.” He grinned. “Gideon, my Great Uncle IS The Author! He came to Gravity Falls to study the supernatural for a thesis he was working on. He’s totally brilliant!” He hugged the journal to his chest. “I’m going to be _just_ like him someday. Investigating the weird and amazing, recording it all for future generations to learn about, discovering weird things about this world that no-one’s ever seen and showing everyone how great the ‘weird’ in this world actually is!” He smiled wider for a moment, and then shook his head. “Anyway, yeah, if anyone has it, he does. Or at the very least, I thought he’d have answers.” He looked down at the book in his hands. “And I’m not sure if his absence is just him being caught up in his research, or if something actually happened to him, but I’m worried.”

“We should definitely ask Stan more ‘bout that when he’s in a better mood.” He shook his head. “The author is your _great uncle_. Wow. Ah cannot _believe_ he’s related to you people.” He turned to face a fridge filled with bags of ice. The freezer was somehow still active. “M’kay, here it is.”

“Here… _what_ is? It’s just a…” His eyes suddenly widened. “Wait. I remember this.” He looked down at the floor. There were still a few scattered ice cubes. “I came here to get ice before the ghost stuff started, all those years ago, but I ended up dropping it because I saw a weird thing in the freezer.”

“Oh, yeah, she said some things leak through sometimes,” he replied cryptically.

“She? Who’s she?”

“You’ll see.” He pulled open the door. “You go first. You’re in more danger bein’ in here than me.”

“Hey, hey, wait.” He frowned. “You want to shove me in the _freezer_?”

“It’s not a _freezer_ , brainiac. It’s a cursed door. There’s someone inside that might be able to help us.”

“Or maybe you just want to lock me in there as revenge,” Dipper crossed his arms. “You’re still _Gideon_. You once tried to blow up my sister and I to win a mayoral campaign.”

“Yeah? Well _you_ tried ta brainwash Stan so he’d win that election in my place. And then when _that_ didn’t’ work, ya used the handyman,” Gideon shot back. “We could spend _all day_ countin’ each other’s misdeeds, or we could follow _the only lead we got_ and get to the bottom of the thing that KEEPS US UP AT NIGHT!”

“…you’re freaked out too,” Dipper noted quietly.

“ ‘course I am! Who do you think he’s gonna look for _first_ when he comes back, huh? I betrayed him! He’s gonna _kill_ me!” He made a stressed noise.

“No, he won’t.” Dipper took his hand. Ew. It was sweaty. “Come on. If we’re doing this, we’re doing it together. We won’t let that jerk ruin our lives again.”

“Are ya sure we can even-” He looked at Dipper’s face, and for once, that baseless confidence and determination actually made him feel better. Maybe he wasn’t alone in this after all. His frown wavered. “Okay. I’ll lead the way.” He climbed inside the freezer, Dipper following close behind.

Dipper wasn’t one to feel the cold all that much, but he shivered immediately. “And you’re _sure_ this cursed door wasn’t somewhere else? Preferably with less ice?” he confirmed, looking around.

Well, ‘looking’ was a bit of a stretch. All he could really see was pitch black…darkness. He couldn’t even see his hand in front of his face. What the hell _was_ this?

“Oh, quit bein’ a baby,” Gideon snapped. “You’re wearin’ a _hoodie. I’m_ the one in a _dress shirt_.”

“Oh, fair point, fair point. Hey, do you even _own_ a hoodie? Or is your entire wardrobe just... _that_ outfit?”

“…ah may not be psychic anymore, but ah definitely see a _punch_ in your future if ya don’t stahp talkin’, Pines.”

“Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t y-AAAAUUUUGHHH!!!” He squeezed his eyes shut reflexively as the darkness was suddenly enveloped with blinding white light.

“Oh, just open yer eyes,” he heard Gideon say, sounding exasperated.

“Fine, fine, let me just—”

He took a deep breath, trying to adjust to the intense shock he’d just experienced. He pat his face, almost like he was making sure it was still there.

He was okay. Everything was okay. He could do this.

His eyes popped open and, as they adjusted, he realised they definitely weren’t in that freezer anymore.

“Welcome welcome _welcome!”_ came a cheerful voice from the other side of the room.

Dipper had to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. There was a lady cyclops…stood in front of a cash register.

He’d officially seen everything.

He looked around the room, trying to figure out where exactly they were.

The most obvious things in the room to him were the wooden tables and mannequins scattered around, almost in his way as he wandered about. They displayed an assortment of dimly glowing jewellery and objects, and each one appeared to be illuminated by a cosy lilac glow, apparently from the Victorian-esque candles that lined each wall. Their flames were a very bright purple.

If it wasn’t for the candles, he’d think this place was just an average antiques shop. It definitely smelled like one. He vaguely wondered if the whole one eye thing made it hard for her to see all the dust everywhere.

“This here store is _Ocula Numero’s Mystical Antiques an’ Wears_ ,” Gideon explained, unintentionally reminding Dipper that he was indeed still here. “It exists between dimensions, so all kindsa people and stuff turn up here. Ya never know what ya might find.”

Dipper stared at him.

“Wait, you mean _all_ this stuff is magic? _All_ of it?”

He nodded, a little smug. “You bet it is! Ya know that lucky bolo tie you saw me usin’ a while back? Ah got it here.”

“Oh, woah, no WAY!”

Grinning like a kid at the toy isle and his curiosity officially piqued, Dipper walked over to one of the tables and started examining the amulets.

He picked up the first one and tried it on.

“Huh. I don’t feel any-AUGHH!” He stepped back as he witnessed his skin turn blue and scaly, like a mer-person.

Gideon giggled. “That one’s probably for breathin’ underwater. It’s definitely…a look. Just not a look _you_ could ever pull off.”

Dipper stuck his tongue out at him childishly and slipped a different amulet around Gideon’s lack of a neck. The reaction was instantaneous.

“AUGH!” He stared, wide eyed, as his body morphed and twisted into…

…an exact copy of Dipper.

“Woah, _shapeshifter_ magic!”

“Eww, gross,” Gideon teased, pulling at his new messy brown hair. “Imagine having to live your whole life lookin’ like _this_? A’ve never looked so hideous.”

Dipper laughed and gave him a playful shove. “What do you mean? You’ve never looked better.”

Gideon grinned and put the amulet back. His form instantly returned to its’ normal self. He sighed, secretly more than a little relieved. He felt a lot more comfortable in his own skin.

Dipper walked over to one of the hand mannequins.

He knew they’d come here on important business, but there was just something about the ring on that one that caught his eye. Maybe it was the shine of the gold, or the soft glow of the pink gem in the centre, or the delicate flower-like patterns surrounding said gem, but…

“It reminds me of Pacifica,” he muttered, examining it closely.

“Huh?” Gideon followed him so he could take a look. “Oh, ah’ve seen that one before. Ah think it’s called…ah, here it is!” He picked up the small card that had been leaned against the mannequin and read it aloud. “ _The Royal Ring of Telepathy.”_

“Oh, excellent choice!” said the cyclops, who Dipper had to assume was probably Ocula Numero. “I traded it from the princess of Dimension 30. She was locked up in her tower for most of her life, so it allowed her to telepathically communicate with whomever she chose. It’s perfect for that prince or princess in your life that can’t stand being alone.”

Dipper thought for a moment. With this, Pacifica would never have to feel alone again. He or Mabel would always be there if she needed them, even when she had to go back to the Northwest Manor. She’d never feel like she was being left behind again.

Plus, it was beautiful and powerful, just like…

Forcing his blush down, he walked over to Ocula.

“I’ll take it. What kind of currency do you use?”

“She’s got no use for money,” Gideon explained, following him. “You gotta trade it with somethin’ magical. Have ya got anythin’ in that bag of yours?”

“Hmm. I’m not sure.” He pulled it off his back and unzipped it. After a moment of rummaging through it, he took out a torch with a crystal attached to it.

Gideon’s eyes widened. “Is that…?”

“Yep.” He placed it on the table in front of Ocula. “It’s my personal invention, but it _does_ use magic, so would that be okay?”

She picked it up and examined it closely, her large eye narrowing. “I don’t know…”

“I made it using a crystal I found in the forest. It can alter the size of anything, depending on which side of the crystal the light is shining on,” he explained. “I rigged it so you can control that at the press of a switch.”

Gideon smiled brightly, turning on the charming act he’d practiced for his former profession as child psychic.

“Ocula, darlin’.” He leaned against the table. “Did ya hear that? He made that contraption himself! It’s one of a kind! Wouldn’t it be mighty thrillin’ to be able to add another item to your one-of-a-kind table? It’s lookin’ kinda bare there, hon.”

She turned the torch on and held it up to a small potted plant. The plant immediately shrunk to be the size of a peanut.

“I don’t usually take homemade items, but…alright. It’ll do. You’re lucky I’m so understocked.” She turned the torch off and carefully placed it in a drawer.

Dipper grinned and clutched the ring tightly in his hand. “Thank you so much!”

“You’re welcome.” She smiled. “You’re pretty lucky. No ring quite like it exists in the entire multiverse. Keep it safe.”

“She will. I’m sure of it.” He had to actively fight down his growing smile. Pacifica was going to love it.

"But anyway, Ocula," Gideon began, trying to get them back on track. "The truth is, we're not here for shoppin’. We came to see if ya had any information into somethin' we're lookin’ into."  
  
"Oh?" She straightened up. "What do you want to know?"  
  
Dipper frowned. "Yeah, good idea, Gid. Ocula, you specialise in magic, right? Do you know of any magic that could potentially grant someone a physical form? There's this triangle guy, Bill Cipher, that's probably going to try to escape into the real world somehow. We need to figure out how so we can stop him."  
  
"A physical form, huh?" She thought for a moment. "That's very rare magic. I used to have something like that, but..." She shook her head. "Even if that relic were still in my possession, it wouldn't work. Its' effects were only temporary, and besides..." She leaned down and picked up a large box, placing it on the counter for them to see. The boys peered into it.  
  
Inside was an assortment of what appeared to be magical jewellery, but every amulet, every magical stone and talisman, was cold and black, like a mobile phone with a dead battery. The only indication they had once been magical at all was the faint runes carved along some of them.

  
"What happened to 'em?" Gideon asked, his eyebrows furrowing anxiously.  
  
"I couldn't tell you. I've never seen anything like it." She shook her head. "You're lucky that ring of yours is still functional. Every day, more and more of my stock loses its' power. It's unnatural. At this rate, I'll have nothing left to sell."  
  
"Huh." Dipper pressed a finger to his upper lip, the cogs in his brain starting to turn. He was sure now more than ever that the journals returning, Ford going missing, his return to Gravity Falls and the Bill dreams, were all connected. They were all just way too perfectly timed to be considered coincidences at this point.  
  
One look at Gideon, and Dipper could tell he was thinking the same thing.  
  
Ocula put the box away, like just looking at it made her feel uneasy.

"Though,” she continued. “If you're trying to stop this triangle guy from getting to the real world, I fear you're too late. I saw someone fitting that description enter my shop just a few days ago."  
  
"WHAT?!" Gideon slammed his chubby palms on the desk. "You SAW him?!"  
  
Dipper felt his blood run cold. "A-are you sure it was definitely him?"  
  
"No, but he was triangle shaped, alright. I think he stole something, but it happened so fast, I'm not sure what he could have taken."  
  
"Oh my gawd.” Gideon started pacing. “We're dead. We're _very much_ dead."  
  
"We're _not_ dead," Dipper snapped, his heart rate rising. "Come on. We need to head back before Grunkle Stan notices we took his car. We'll figure out a plan on the way. Let's go."  
  


"R-right."  
  
"Thanks for your help, Ocula," Dipper said. "We'll look into your magic problem. Maybe we can figure out a cause." With a final, weak smile, he followed Gideon outside.  
  
"So, what's yer big awesome Dipper Pines plan that's gonna save our asses?" Gideon asked as soon as they were safely outside Dusk 2 Dawn.  
  


"Well, I think we're going to need help." He nodded seriously and unlocked the car. "We don't have the memory gun anymore, so even if by some miracle Bill _did_ fall for the same trick twice, we wouldn't be able to pull it off again."  
  
“Alright. Well, then...I’m gonna get started on my will."

\---

The journey back was long and tense. Dipper was a far too careful driver on a good day, but seeing as this car was technically stolen and most accidents happened at night, he was driving even slower than usual. He feared his Grunkle Stan's wrath far more than Bill's.

By the time they arrived back at the Shack, it was pretty late, but they were fortunate in that Stan was nowhere to be found.

“Right, I’m headin’ to bed,” Gideon muttered, rubbing his eyes. “We’ll figure out what ta do tomorra, yeah?”

“Yeah.” He hesitated. “And, uh…Gideon?”

He looked up at him and tilted his head. “Yeah?”

“Thanks. For today. It was fun hanging with you, even if…it lead to some _less fun_ revelations.”

“Oh.” He blinked, clearly caught off guard, and then a tired smile made its’ way onto his face. “Anytime…friend.” With that, he plodded his way up the stairs, feeling in a bit of a better mood than before.

Dipper was in a bit of a better mood too. Like, sure, they needed a new plan to stop Bill and the world as they knew it was most likely doomed, but for right now, he was exhausted, and he was content with the knowledge that they could figure out what all this meant tomorrow.

He checked the time on his phone. _1am._ Yikes _. Far_ past curfew.

The TV was playing music in the room next door. Stan must have been watching one of his usual late-night game shows.

Dipper took a deep breath and stepped inside. “Grunkle Stan, I’m so sorry I’m—” He froze at the door. It was just the person he didn’t want to see.

“Nope, just me,” replied the person sat in Stan’s armchair, who was staring unblinkingly at the TV. It appeared to be playing a concert for one of those K-pop groups he’d heard about so much, but it didn’t seem like she was really watching it.

“Pacifica? Where’s Grunkle Stan?”

“Busy with paperwork.” She rubbed her eyes, almost as an excuse not to give him any eye contact. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

“You could say that.” Feeling kind of awkward, he took a step towards her. “You do know it’s 1am, right? Are you still having trouble sleeping?”

“You could say that.”

When she didn’t say anything else, he took a risk and sat on one of the arms of the chair. “Hey, are you okay? You seem…not very chatty. That’s not like you at all.”

She didn’t reply.

“Um…” He was starting to feel borderline uncomfortable now. He tried to make his tone of voice sound light, hoping to lessen the tension a bit. “Oh, hey! By the way! I got you something! It’s magic! And also a present! Or…or a peace offering. Whichever works.”

 _That_ got her attention. She looked up at him, her glassy, but mysterious ocean blue eyes peering into his. She appeared a little suspicious.

“You…what?”

“Yeah! Look!” He took the ring off and held it out to her. “I saw it and I thought of you. Apparently, it lets you psychically communicate with, like, anyone you want! I figured it might come in handy if you ever…” He looked away shyly. “If you were in trouble, or if you ever felt alone again…”

She took the ring from him and stared at it intensely for a moment, before clasping it tightly in both of her hands and closing her eyes. It looked like she was making a wish, but her expression was so intense and focussed, that, to Dipper, it looked more like she was attempting to place a curse on somebody.

After a moment of tense silence, Dipper heard it. It was faint at first, but it got louder and clearer as the words strung together for form a complete sentence.

_…Di-uh, Mason? Can you, like, ‘hear’ me?_

It didn’t exactly _sound_ like Pacifica, since it was just the transmission of her thoughts, but it certainly _felt_ like her. The scientific implications of all this were really very interesting. However…this wasn’t what his brain chose to focus on at that moment.

_She said my name, she said my name, it sounds so nice when she says my-oh wow, okay be cool Pines don't be weird what if she can hear this-_

He looked at her face. It appeared mostly unchanged, though the slight twitch at the corner of her mouth indicated that she might have been amused.

_…Is stressing me out fun for you or something?_

She opened her eyes to look at him, expression intense, like a raging hurricane.

He gulped. He had to say something. He didn’t have time to overthink it. He was close to losing her, he could feel it.

“I'm sorry I've been stressing you out,” he said, mentally cursing at himself for not coming up with something more heartfelt. He was so bad at this. “And I'm sorry I keep saying sorry. It's clearly not helping, but...I don't know what else to do. I don't want you to hate me.”

“I could never hate you,” she replied, her voice bitter, but soft. “I just wish I knew why you were being so weird with me that day with the gnomes. You invited me, but then you ignored me and acted like you didn't even want me around, I…” She shook her head. “It really hurt. I thought we were friends.”

“We are! I just…”

 _dont tell her dont tell her dont tell her..._  
  
She immediately glared at him. “If you don’t give me a straight answer, so help me-“

He made a stressed noise. “I don’t know if I even know _how_ to-”

“Say no more.” She focussed on the ring again. Now that her hands weren’t covering it, he could see that it was glowing a soft pink colour, the colour getting brighter the more she apparently ‘listened’ for his thoughts.

But, wait, this was bad, this meant she would-

_She’s so DISTRACTING. I wanted her there, but also I had investigating to do, and there she was, with her smile like sunshine and her pretty eyes and suddenly I couldn't think straight, and my tongue stopped forming real words and it's like, impending doom, who? I wonder what Pacifica’s favourite ice cream flavour is! Let's investigate THAT._

She stared at him. “That’s…um… _wow_.”

He crossed his arms, his cheeks burning. “I’m pretty sure using your gift as a lie detector is cheating or something.”

“Worth it.” Her lips finally stretched into a small smile. “That’s sweet, Mason.”

“Yeah, well…it’s not like it’s a…a big deal or anything.” Avoiding her eyes as much as he could, he moved to sit next to her on the sofa cushion.

 _Man, I am NOT good at this. How the heck do you keep your thoughts to yourself when you're communicating like this?_  
  
_I don't think you can, Dipper Darling._

She smiled a little. “I’m sorry I got you tied to a tree.”

“Nah, I deserved it.” He hesitated, and then carefully took her hand in his. To his immense relief, she intertwined their fingers immediately. He felt his heart start to calm. “Anyway, how come you haven’t been sleeping great lately?” he asked, a bit more courage for prying questions now that he knew she still liked him. “You look really exhausted.”

“It’s because I am.” She sighed. “I’m dealing with a lot right now. It’s…” She sighed again and looked up at the ceiling.

Dipper must have touched the ring by accident, because suddenly, it started to glow again, much brighter than before, and he found himself being hit with all her thoughts, all at once.

 _MY STUPID PARENTS HATE ME AND IM GONNA BE ALONE FOREVER AND BRACE FACE IS THE BEST PERSON IVE PROBABLY EVER MET AND IT’S WEIRD AND I FEEL SO BAD ABOUT IT AND I WISH MR PINES WAS MY GREAT UNCLE TOO AND MASON OR DIPPER OR WHATEVER HIS NAME IS GOT ME A RING AND IT’S GIVING ME SOME VERY MIXED MESSAGES AND GODDDDD WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME WHY AREN'T I NORMALLLL-_  
  
Dipper stiffened.  
  
Woah,” he said, after a moment of processing all that. “You're... _really_ overwhelmed, huh?”

She nodded and pulled him into a hug that was far tighter than he’d expected.

Dipper hugged her back just as tightly. He may not understand exactly what all her problems were, but he certainly understood the feeling of being overwhelmed by them.   
  
For a moment, neither of them said a word, just taking in the comfort of the other’s presence.  
  
The first to gather the courage to say something was Pacifica, but she sounded...different. Uncharacteristically vulnerable.  
  
"Mason..." she said into his shoulder. "I need to know. Why _did_ you leave me with those gnomes? I thought it was because you hated me, I thought you were just using me, but then Mabel said your real name is this whole big secret, and...I don't know. I don't know what to think anymore."  
  
He thought for a moment, frowning. This was really bothering her. He needed to explain it perfectly, and that meant he needed her to hear it from his own mouth. ‘Forget about embarrassing yourself, knuckle-head’, he could almost hear Mabel say. ‘Speak from the heart!’  
  
"Do you know why they call me Dipper?” he suddenly said.  
  
"Uh..." She looked up at him. "No? Why do they?"  
  
"It's because of _this_ stupid thing."  
  
He let go of her and pushed the hair on his forehead back to reveal his embarrassingly shaped birthmark.  
  
She gasped. “Wait, isn’t that the Big-- _that’s_ why you’re called that?!” She peered closer at it. “Oh, that’s so _weird!”_  
  
He nodded and looked her in the eyes, deadly serious.

“Pacifica, the truth is...I’m weird. That’s who I am. And sometimes I get so _caught up_ in the things that are weird like me, that I lose sight of the things that _aren’t_.” He took her hand again. “I’m no good at this stuff- knowing the right things to say, the right things to do...it's the one mystery I can’t ever seem to solve. It's...” He sighed, a little frustrated. This was hard. “I-I guess what I’m trying to say is...I'm dealing with a lot of weird right now, and I wanted to keep you out of it for as long as possible. The gnomes were dangerous, but the lead they gave me could have been way worse. I thought I was keeping you safe by not getting you involved, but I just made you feel like I didn’t care about you. I’m sorry.”  
  
She stared at him. He wasn’t lying to her. She could tell.  
  
So that meant...well, for one thing, it meant that there was something bad going on. That was worrying. But the positive...was that he really _did_ care about her.  
  
He was just fucking stupid.  
  
“Mason _.”_  
  
His eyes suddenly widened, his body going stiff instinctively. “Y-yes?”  
  
“Tell me something- in your ghost hunting shows, would the people that moved into these places be less likely to get hurt if they didn’t know their house was haunted?”  
  
“Well no, but...” He shook his head. “It's not the same thing, Pacifica. Those people _know_ they’re dealing with ghosts. I don’t know what this is yet or what it means. That’s what I’m trying to find out.”  
  
“I see.” She frowned. “Will you tell me if you find anything concrete, at least? I deserve to know if my life or the lives of my friends are in danger.”  
  
He hesitated. “Are you _sure_ you want to be involved in this?”  
  
“Yes. I’m not a _child_ , Mason.” She put her hands on her hips. “I survived an _apocalypse._ I can handle whatever this is too.”  
  
He looked into her eyes, his expression a mix of concern and awe.  
  
“Okay, I’ll…I'll tell you. When I'm ready.” He shook his head, his heart starting to flutter like it often did around her. “It’s the least I can do, I think.”  
  
Had Pacifica always been this cool?  
  
“Thank you.” She pulled him into another hug. He hugged her back, far cuddlier now that they were both more relaxed.

“Anyway, so, what have you been up to today?” he asked curiously, though his eyelids were starting to get heavy. “I hope Mabel’s been laying off on the Dipifica stuff a bit.”

“Oh, you know Mabel. If she’s not excited about one thing, she’s excited about something else.” She yawned and nestled her head under his chin. He was surprisingly comfortable. Some might call him sweaty, but she just found him warm.

“All that energy used to bug me,” she continued. “But now I just find it entertaining. Though she got angry on my behalf earlier, and it was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen, probably.”

Dipper chuckled, his chest vibrating at the action. He was too tired now to feel embarrassed that she was so close to him, and instead decided to rest his cheek on top of her head so he’d be a bit more comfortable.

“Yeah, she has quite a temper,” he replied. He could feel himself starting to doze off, but he really didn’t want to move. Hugging her was nice, but whatever they were doing now was even better. She’d wake him up if he passed out, wouldn’t she?

“She’s my best friend,” Pacifica admitted, closing her eyes. “You and Mabel have done so much for me. I’d love to return the favour someday.”

“You’re helping out in the shack,” he reminded her. “We get to go to the fair because of you. That’s enough, I think.”

“Still doesn’t…feel like enough…” She trailed off, her exhaustion taking her out in one final blow.

Dipper smiled and finally let himself drift off too. Everyone would probably tease them about this tomorrow, but for right now? He didn’t care. He hadn’t felt this peaceful in ages, and he had a feeling Pacifica hadn’t either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GRNV NLEVH ULIDZIW YFG LMV GSRMT SZHM'G XSZMTVW. KRMV GIVV HGROO HGIFTTOVH GL WRHXLEVI GSV HGIZMTV. YRT GSRMTH ZIV XLNRMT, GSRH GIVV'H RM LEVI SRH SVZW. SV'W YVGGVI OVG NV SVOK LI SV'OO DRMW FK XSLKKVW WLDM ZMW WVZW.


End file.
